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Dear everyone,


There are few hotter issues across the nation than education reform.


Above all the noise, there's one issue that often gets overlooked: early
childhood education. Today, only 60 percent of children are enrolled in a
formal program like *Head Start* or a private local preschool.


In early June,* **Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) *and* **Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)*
introduced new legislation that would expand our education system so that
every child gets at least one year of high-quality Pre-K and increase the
availability of high-quality child care to children in low-income families
and children with special needs.


U.S. Programs *Artist Ambassador Jennifer Garner* and I joined the Senators
to introduce the bill; we also had private visits with *Senators Roy Blunt
(R-MO)* and *Joe Manchin (D-WV)* to discuss the issue.


In the morning, we attended an early childhood education breakfast that
included, among others, *The Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart*. Just
days later, Capehart wrote an opinion piece based, in part, on our
conversation: http://wapo.st/k2nJPj.


Check out these other stories about our advocacy day:


- *Huffington Post*: http://huff.to/mfzWiE
- *Fox and Friends*: http://bit.ly/nagO2X
- *Pittsburgh** **Post-Gazette*: http://bit.ly/mN52FE


In an interesting but unsurprising twist, a few weeks after our visit, the *
Institute** **of Medicine* reported a link between childhood obesity and
early education (http://wapo.st/oDiSB6). A major cause of childhood obesity
is food deserts: areas in the U.S. where there are few or no full-service
grocery stores that stock fresh and healthy foods. U.S. Programs put a
satirical spin on a new *FDA food plate* to demonstrate the problem. Check
it here: http://bit.ly/qRqbh5.


Finally, U.S. Programs was the beneficiary of the annual* **Father of the
Year Awards* in New York City on June 16th. The event honored *Randall
Stephenson*, Chairman, CEO & President, AT&T; *Jim Boeheim*, Head Basketball
Coach, Syracuse University;* **Amar’e Stoudemire*, Captain of the New York
Knicks;* **Brendan Hoffman*, President & CEO, Lord & Taylor; and *Geoffrey
Canada*, President & CEO, Harlem Children Zone. It was a wonderful event
that will help support our work in significant and meaningful ways.


That’s all for this month. As always, please let me know if you have any
thoughts or ideas about our work or the fight against childhood poverty in
the U.S.


Warmly,


Mark


Mark K. Shriver
Senior Vice President, US Programs
2000 L Street NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20036 USA
Phone: (202) 640-6627
Fax: (202) 640-6950

www.savethechildren.org/usa <x-msg://1454/www.savethechildren.org/usa