An ad hoc committee under the auspices of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will study how to fund early care and education for children from birth to kindergarten entry that is accessible, affordable to families, and of high quality, including a well-qualified and adequately supported workforce consistent with the vision outlined in the report Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8.

The committee will briefly review and synthesize the available research and analysis on the resources needed to meet the true costs of high quality early care and education, including resources for improving the quality, affordability and accessibility of higher education for the workforce; improving the quality and availability of professional learning during ongoing practice; and supporting well-qualified educators and administrators with adequate compensation through complete wage and benefit packages that are comparable across settings and children's ages. The committee may use available costing research, analyses, and tools to illustrate select aspects of the cost implications of the principles and frameworks for financing that they consider and recommend. It is not within the scope and funds of this study for the committee to carry out new comprehensive costing analyses of the approaches they consider or of their conclusions and recommendations.

To inform their primary analysis, the committee will gather information and review the available evidence on funding mechanisms across early care and education settings that are currently being employed successfully on a large scale as well as illustrative examples of funding mechanisms that are being employed on a smaller scale but have promise for expansion. The committee will also take into consideration lessons that can be drawn from financing of early care and education in other countries and from workforce development in sectors other than education.

The committee will use the information gathered to explore the following questions:

1. In most states the cost of a high quality early learning program exceeds the cost of college tuition, making it unaffordable for most lower income families. What changes need to be made to the funding structure of the early care and education system in order to ensure that sufficient funds are available to support quality of care and early learning consistent with the science of child development?

2. What are the implications for families of varying levels of costs of early care and education relative to their income and how can a reasonable share for families be determined?

3. What funding mechanisms at the federal, state and local levels have been effective at creating a strong element of support for the workforce (i.e., higher education; ongoing professional learning system; compensation degree/credential attainment)?

4. What promising funding mechanisms at the federal, state, and local levels warrant further examination through a systematic approach to implementing and evaluating at scale?

5. What other workforce development considerations at the national, state, and local level affect the effective implementation of these funding mechanisms?

6. What frameworks or tools can support national, state, and local systems to develop funding mechanisms that are most likely to be effective in their contexts?