The Arizona School Readiness Board action plan was conceived by community members, and its ultimate success is contingent on full engagement by parents, businesses, programs/schools and communities at every level. The action steps build public/private partnerships to create and expand capacity at the local level.
Arizona Early Education Funds is a partnership that encourages collaborative work amongst lead organizations across the state. Funds maybe managed by the Arizona Community Foundation, Community Foundation of Southern Arizona and United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona. Public and Private funds will support Regional and statewide initiatives to establish systemic change. Regional support will provide funding for Community Assessments, Capacity Building, Evaluation and Leadership. Statewide funding will encourage Advocacy, Best Practices, Research and Development.
Funds will also be used to enhance programmatic efforts to increase early literacy, professional development, quality improvement of centers and child health programs.
With funds from an increased tax on tobacco, the Arizona Early Education Fund welcomes Arizona's most recent funding partner, the Arizona Early Childhood Development and Health Board (First Things First/Prop 203 Board). The newly formed board, chaired by Nadine Mathis Basha, is committed to helping communities across Arizona build the quality and capacity of early care and education and health programs for young children through the funding and development of regional councils. These public dollars in the estimated amount of $150M/ year will provide substantial resources in local communities.
The Arizona Early Education Fund remains committed to supporting regional partnerships as communities prepare for the funding opportunities created through the success of First Things First Initiative. With funds from the Ellis Center for Educational Excellence, AEEF has invested over $500K in transition planning and training for regional partnerships. AEEF is committed to providing gap funding for existing School Readiness Regional Partners until April 2008 or until the newly formed board's infrastructure is in place to disseminate funding. AEEF is also committed to funding the existing technical assistance to support AEEF School Readiness Regional Partnerships. These funding decisions are in cooperation with the timeline as described in the language of Proposition 203 for the Early Childhood Development and Health Board.
As a private public partnership, the Arizona Early Education Fund was established at the Arizona Community Foundation to support and leverage the efforts of Governor Janet Napolitano and the Arizona School Readiness Board and other partners. The Early Childhood Development and Health Board has utilized the work of the Arizona Early Education Fund and the Arizona School Readiness Board to inform their discussions, efforts and strategies. AEEF looks to define a collaborative relationship with the Early Childhood Development and Health Board as they move forward.