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PHOENIX - Tomorrow education leaders will gather for a press conference celebrating the $1.2 billion federal investment in childhood education. As one of the legislature's champions for education, Rep. Aaron Lieberman will join Rep. Lorenzo Sierra, Dr. Melissa Boydston, Barbie Prinster, members of the Arizona Early Childhood Alliance, and other early education leaders and providers to outline the statewide impacts of this investment.
Arizona's early childhood education providers have been starving for adequate funding for years. But now this historic federal investment will begin to address this education crisis and provide much-needed relief to the state's floundering education system.
The event will be hosted by Tolleson Elementary School Superintendent Lupita Hightower, who operates pre-schools that predominantly serve low-income families that participate in the national school lunch program. Sierra, D-Avondale, and Lieberman, D-Phoenix, have sponsored bills in the past two legislative sessions to restore the education funding cuts. Specifically, $48 million of the award will restore pre-k slots including openings at Tolleson elementary schools that were cut when federal funds were eliminated in 2020. The inclusion of these funds was based on Representative Sierra’s HB2015 appropriation; preschool development grants, which he and Rep. Lieberman have advocated for during the last two legislative sessions.
"When we put our children first and come together to solve problems, there is nothing we can't achieve," said Rep. Lieberman.
When: The press conference will begin at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, August 25
Where: Sheely Farms Elementary School, 9450 W. Encanto St., Phoenix
For directions or logistical questions contact Gisselle Herrera, Tolleson Elementary Executive Director for Curriculum and Instruction
Contact: 623-262-2713 , [email protected]
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