Giving Compass' Take:

• More programs are being funded for early education programs as well as child care in critical sectors amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

• How are our earliest learners impacted by coronavirus? How can education donors help provide resources and relief for early childhood education system? 

• Learn how school districts can prepare for coronavirus. 

A New America analysis released Thursday focuses on the $140 billion per year experts say would shift the bulk of the cost of early learning programs from families to public and private sources, envisioning a financing system in which families pay roughly 40% of the costs of programs for children from birth to age 5 and public funding covers about $82 billion — about $53 billion more than the current level from both state and federal sources. Programs would be free for low-income families, as many are now.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act — a proposed economic stimulus package passed by the Senate late Wednesday night — includes $3.5 billion in federal funds to help child care programs remain in business during closures so those on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis can keep working. The stimulus bill also includes $750 million for Head Start to cover staffing and operational costs and provide summer learning opportunities.

The report comes just two weeks after a national task force released a broad plan for redefining the work and preparation programs for those working in the early childhood education field. Leaders of the effort recommend early educators working in publicly funded programs have the same education levels and earn the same salaries as teachers in the early grades.

But authors of the New America report note the challenges to reaching "pay parity" include "lower levels of unionization among early educators and a lack of protected funding sources dedicated to [early-childhood education]."

Read the full article about early childhood education by Linda Jacobson at Education Dive.