Upcoming Michigan House of Representative Meetings related to young children:
None scheduled at this time.

Michigan Senate Committee Meetings related to young children:
None scheduled at this time.

Committee meetings are often added or agendas changed after the update is sent. Check the legislature's committee calendar for additions and changes.

Current Actions on Michigan Bills related to Young Children:
HB 4359 School Aid Budget (Gillard) Provides appropriations for School Aid. Introduced and referred to Appropriations (02/28/07). Passed with Substitute H-1 and amendments adopted (8/22/07). Referred to committee on Appropriations (8/30/07).

SB 232 Human Services (Hardiman) Provides for 2007-08 budget for Department of Human Services. Introduced and referred to Appropriations (02/21/07). Reported with Substitute S-1 (6/7/07). Passed the senate with Substitute S-1 adopted (8/22/07). Received by the House and referred to Appropriations (8/22/07).

SB 694 Education (Thomas) Provides for certain content requirements concerning African history curriculum in elementary grades in public schools. Referred to committee on Education (8/30/07).

Bill abstracts provided by Voices for Michigan’s Children. See the status of other bills at Michigan's Children.

Michigan Budget Update
House of Representatives Approves FY 2008 School Aid Budget (8/27/07)
The new budget includes significant expansions in services for young children, including new full-day and universal preschool programs, expanded funding for services for parents of young children from birth to 3, and funding to expand local Great Start Collaboratives. Michigan's Children

Senate Passes FY 2008 Budget for the Department of Human Services (8/24/07)
The Senate narrowly approved a new budget, which includes a controversial provision to privatize Michigan’s foster care and juvenile justice systems. Michigan's Children

FY 2008 Budget for the Department of Human Services Moves Forward (8/21/07)
Summary of the current action on the DHS budget for fiscal year 2008. Michigan's Children

Have you Heard? – Weekly Additions
For Additional reports and findings please visit the MiAEYC web site:
www.miaeyc.org/News/Have_You_Heard.html

Supporting Healthy Relationships Between Young Children and Their Parents: Lessons from Attachment Theory and Research
This brief by Karen Appleyard and Lisa Berlin at Duke University explains the emotional ties between infants and their parents known as attachments, illustrates with examples, and describes the categories of secure and unsecure attachments. The authors draw lessons from research on the subject and provide guidelines for supporting healthy relationships between young children and their parents. Center for Child and Family Policy - Duke University

Cost Per Child for Early Childhood Education and Care: Comparing Head Start, CCDF Child Care, and Prekindergarten/Preschool Programs
This paper by Douglas J. Besharov, Justus A. Myers, and Jeffrey S. Morrow at the American Enterprise Institute calculates the actual per-child costs of Head Start (including Early Head Start), child care provided under the Child Care and Development Fund, and state-funded preschool programs. Costs per child varied dramatically between the programs. Welfare Reform Academy

Pre-K and Latinos: The Foundation for America’s Future
By providing Latino children with culturally and linguistically appropriate services in high-quality, pre-k-for-all programs, educators and policymakers can help close the achievement gap and make a major contribution to realizing this growing population’s remarkable potential. Pre-K Now

A Science-Based Framework for Early Childhood Policy Using Evidence to Improve Outcomes in Learning, Behavior, and Health for Vulnerable Children
As scientists, we believe that advances in the science of early childhood and early brain development, combined with the findings of four decades of rigorous program evaluation research, can now provide a strong foundation upon which policymakers and civic leaders with diverse political values can design a common, effective, and politically viable agenda. Harvard.edu

In Preschool Matters: Pre-K Progress in the States
Twenty-nine governors proposed significant expansions of state-funded preschool this year. This issue of Preschool Matters features an article on the momentum to provide voluntary preschool education for all and the importance of quality on positive outcomes. NIEER

In the News– Weekly Additions
For Additional reports and findings please visit the MiAEYC web site:
www.miaeyc.org/News/The_News.html

Run! Skip! Jump into kindergarten
"Our basic premise is children need to have a certain amount of physical skills to succeed in school," said Tom Johnson, who developed the "Jump Into Kindergarten" program. Johnson, who has a Ph.D. in early childhood education and a master's in adaptive physical education, said those skills are balance, general coordination, hand-eye coordination, laterality, tactile touch, body image, and audio-receptive/audio-expressive language. These activities help students learn to use both sides of the brain. Midland Daily News

More parents putting off school for 5-year-olds
Even though he’s eligible to start school, Levi Hanson won’t be going to kindergarten this year. His parents, Mike and Becky Hanson, won’t enroll their almost 5-year-old son even though they say he probably is ready academically. Because his birthday is a little more than a week before the Sept. 1 cutoff date and because he’s shy, Becky Hanson says she prefers to wait. Lansing State Journal

Fostering Hope and Vision for Early Childhood Education
Poor health, nutrition and inadequate mental stimulation, socialization and preparation burden many children when they first enter school. Even though educators have to overcome several obstacles, effective early childhood education programs can mitigate these obstacles. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

Pre-school policies "lack impact"
British policies to bolster preschool education have had no effect, according to a study of 35,000 children. Children enter school with no more vocabulary, counting or shape-identification skills than they did before the preschool push began six years ago, the study asserts. BBC

Parents begin potty training at birth
Many parents are trying the new "diaper-free potty training" trend. This movement is founded on the belief that babies are born with an instinctive ability to signal when they have to use the bathroom. Many parents are now starting to use this "elimination communication" by reading their baby's body language. Yahoo! News

Advocates push for early education as crime prevention tool
What do preschool and crime have to do with one another? Plenty, says a group of law enforcement officers who are lobbying for increased investment in children now to prevent crime later. Muskegon Chronicle

Awards Total of $13.3 Million to Four Groups to Help Train Early Education
The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a total of $13.3 million to four organizations to help them fund professional development programs for early childhood educators, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced today. News Blaze

Children's education is a smart investment
There are many explanations for the apparent high economic returns to early childhood education, but a key difference between early childhood investments and investments at primary and secondary education levels is the potential for compounding. That is, enhancing early childhood development appears to improve a child's ability to learn at later stages. Washington Post

Survey: Child Care Costs Affect Women's Attitudes on Having Children
Twenty three percent of the 600 women responding to a survey from Fight Crime: Invest in Kids said they are not having children or are waiting to have them due to the high cost of child care. The women in the survey saying cost of care would affect their decisions were between 18 and 40. For women in the $35,000 to $50,000 income range, one in three said the cost of child care and preschool made them decide against having a baby or delay having one. For African-American women, the figure was 40 percent and for Hispanic women, the figure was 33 percent. Fight Crime: Invest in Kids