School Readiness Action Plan

In January 2004, Governor Napolitano unveiled her School Readiness Action Plan, a five-year initiative to improve Arizona's early childhood education system. The plan was developed with the input and expertise of over 140 business and community leaders, child care, education, and health care professionals, tribal representatives, state agencies, and elected officials.

The purpose of the plan is to shape an Arizona where all children begin 1st grade safe, healthy, and ready to succeed.
The ten major action steps are to:

1. Provide parent education and family support programs that strengthen families and promote school readiness.
2. Increase the number of children who receive well-child health screens.
3. Help families who earn low wages to afford the cost of childcare.
4. Improve the quality of early childhood education.
5. Offer child care providers and preschools access to childcare health consultants.
6. Enhance students' chances of academic success by phasing-in voluntary full-day kindergarten for all Arizona children.
7. Increase the state's investment in high quality preschool.
8. Increase the pool and retention of qualified early childhood professionals.
9. Create public-private partnerships to build the capacity of local communities to provide quality early childhood education.
10. Coordinate early childhood education functions between state agencies, Head Start and Tribes.

The Arizona Early Education Funds grew directly out of Action Step 9 of the SRB Action Plan-- "Create public-private partnerships to build the capacity of local communities to provide quality early childhood education." The Arizona Early Education Funds were established at the Arizona Community Foundation to help turn the recommendations in the SRB Action Plan into reality for Arizona's youngest children.