U.S. grant will fund learning

SEATTLE – Gov. Chris Gregoire was hungry for some good news when a call came in from the other Washington.

She sounded almost giddy on Friday relaying the news that Washington state has won $60 million from the federal government to expand its efforts to help children get better prepared for kindergarten.

“It’s just a grand day for our little learners and for the people of our state,” the governor said.

Washington is one of nine states to win a share of more than $500 million in new federal dollars for early learning initiatives. The other winners – chosen from 37 applicants – are California, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio and Rhode Island.

The goal of the competition is to get more high needs children from birth to age 5 ready for kindergarten.

Washington state officials plan to use the money to expand two programs. One measures how ready kids are for kindergarten. The other works to improve preschools through a quality rating system. Some of the money would also pay for scholarships to send child care workers to college.

“We’ve been working hard but we ran aground recently. We have everything in place but no money to do it,” Gregoire said.