Praises Governor’s Actions to Prioritize Early Literacy

September 8, 2022 – Today, Save the Children Action Network, a leading political voice for children, formally announced it has endorsed Idaho Governor Brad Little for reelection based on his commitment to improve literacy outcomes for children by the end of third grade. During his time in office, Governor Little has secured wins for Idaho’s families by improving education and boosting early child literacy across the state.

“Save the Children Action Network is proud to endorse Governor Brad Little for reelection because he has supported investments that made full-day kindergarten more accessible throughout the state,” said Save the Children Action Network’s State & Electoral Campaigns Senior Director Ryan Murphy. “As a grandfather with a long resume of public service, Governor Little understands that Idaho’s children are critical to future economic growth. This regular session, Governor Little led the effort to triple the state’s early literacy intervention fund, helping increase children’s literacy rates and providing schools the option to offer full-day kindergarten, at no cost to parent and caregivers. He also called a special session on September 1 to invest an additional $330 million in ongoing, annual funding for K-12 public schools. We look forward to continuing our work with his administration to invest and improve early education for Idaho’s children.”

Background

This is the first time Save the Children Action Network has endorsed a candidate in the Gem State. We have done so due to the importance of this moment in advancing much-needed policy that will allow Idaho’s children to thrive and pursue opportunities in life, regardless of where they live or their financial situation.

Governor Brad Little’s record of delivering for Idaho’s children includes the following:

• Helped boost children’s reading skills by tripling the state’s early literacy intervention fund from $26.1 million to $76.7 million and enabling schools district throughout the state to use that funding use to offer full-day kindergarten, at no cost for parents and caregivers.
• Allocated $100 million in urgent COVID relief funding to keep the child care industry afloat, many of whom are small businesses.

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Save the Children Action Network (SCAN) was created in 2014 as the political advocacy arm of Save the Children. We work to ensure that the issues critical to children’s lives and futures are given top priority by our elected leaders, building bipartisan support to make sure every child has a strong start in life.

Learn more about SCAN here: https://savethechildrenactionnetwork.org/

Paid for by Save the Children Action Network