Dive Brief:

• U.S. Senator and former Newark Mayor Cory Booker joined the Foundation for Newark's Future (FNF) to announce a $1-million early education campaign called "Increased Quality, Expanded Access."
• The new initiative aims to provide parents with more information on early education opportunities and give teachers more professional development resources. 
• Last year, after reading a dismal annual report by the Advocates for Children of New Jersey, Booker summoned the FNF to raise capital and create a plan for early education.
• "Increased Quality, Expanded Access" is a joint collaboration between the FNF, a handful of local foundations (the Turrell Fund, the Schumann Fund for New Jersey, and the Nicholson Foundation), and a parent-led advisory board. 

Dive Insight:

Research has shown early childhood education can make an amazing difference in the development of a child, and for this reason the national trend right now is placing energies and resources in creating exemplary early childhood opportunities.

While the Increased Quality, Expanded Access program does not have very many specifics yet, it is safe to say Newark is jumping on the pre-school bandwagon at just the right time. Perhaps the city can even gather some advice and ideas from the exemplary early education program in Tulsa, Okla.