EXCERPT FROM: Honolulu Advertiser
By Mary Vorsino
The number of families receiving state subsidies to cover preschool tuition costs has dropped by about 10 percent after the state's decision to decrease the amount of help families can get, and providers say parents appear to instead be opting for cheaper, unlicensed care or leaving their children with relatives.

EXCERPT FROM: The Honolulu Advertiser
By Suzanne Roig
The state will delay, by one month, a change in the child care subsidy scale to give providers and families time to work out solutions and apply for federal grants.

EXCERPT FROM: The Honolulu Advertiser
By Mary Vorsino
Lawmakers are asking the state to postpone cuts in subsidies for preschool care while they look into possible options to help families.

Teachers with a genuine love of learning, along with the requisite skills and knowledge, approach teaching energetically and passionately, transforming classrooms from the daily drudge of "correct and direct" to places of joyful noise and meaningful learning.

Congresswoman Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) was honored Wednesday as a 2008 “Pre-K Champion” by Pre-K Now, a national preschool advocacy organization established in 2005. “In the past, we have only honored states with the Pre-K Champion Award; this is the first time that we have presented the Award to an individual member of congress.

At the state Capitol, no one seriously disputes the value of early childhood education.

Elisabeth Chun, executive director for Good Beginnings Alliance in Honolulu, said funding for Head Start, Early Head Start, young children's special-education programs and federal childcare and development block grants create a foundation for early-childhood education in Hawai'i and every state.