Dear Friend,

The Tennessee Alliance for Early Education was established in 2005 to support Gov. Phil Bredesen's proposal to expand the state's existing pre-kindergarten education program. We're proud to have been a part of the successful legislative campaigns of 2005 and 2006, and even prouder of the success of the expanded program's second year.

Governor Phil Bredesen, with strong bipartisan support from the Tennessee General Assembly, has provided 70 million new dollars for pre-K education in Tennessee over the past two years. The existing pilot program, which began in 1998, continues to be funded with $10 million in state revenue. The total funding for Tennessee's pre-K program in the 2006-2007 school year is $55 million.

Over the past two years, Governor Bredesen's pre-K initiative has brought 530 new state-supported pre-K classrooms to Tennessee, which serve an additional 10,000 at-risk 4-year-olds. It is simply amazing what has been accomplished in the last two years for Tennessee's 4-year-olds:

Year        Pre-K Classrooms        Students Served
2006                  677                                13,000
2005                  447                                  9,000
2004                  148                                  3,000

The Alliance is now preparing to support Gov. Bredesen in a new legislative session as he aims to again raise the bar for early education in Tennessee. We need your help to support the governor's expansion initiative, and hope you'll consider joining us in the effort to bring quality early education to Tennessee 's children.

In 2007, the governor has proposed further expansion of the pre-K initiative by increasing funding for the program by $25 million. This additional pre-K funding is included in the governor's proposed budget for 2007-2008 and, if approved, will bring the total state funding for pre-K to $80 million and the total number of classrooms to an estimated 900.

We invite you and your organization to become a member of the Tennessee Alliance for Early Education. As a member, you'll have opportunities to assist with letter writing, phone calls and spreading the word about the state's pre-K program. You will also receive legislative updates about pre-K and the actions being taken by the Tennessee General Assembly.

As an added benefit, we can include your organization's e-mail list to our online database, thereby communicating information to your membership on your behalf. Rest assured that all lists remain confidential and will be used only for the purposes of the Alliance 's campaign to support pre-K in Tennessee. You will also have the ability to forward updates to your members should you choose not to take advantage of our e-mail management system.

We look forward to another successful legislative session, and we hope you will join our efforts. If you are interested in joining the Alliance, please e-mail us at prekalliance@mpf.com or click here.

Also, please mark your calendars for the 2008 Tennessee Early Childhood Summit: Building Early Learning Foundations Together, being held on June 26 and 27, 2008, at the Sheraton Music City in Nashville. Watch for more information about the conference as the date draws closer.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Diane R. Neighbors                        Francie Hunt
TAEE Chair                                   TAEE Co-chair