Texas Early Learning Council

The Texas Early Learning Council is a 19 member advisory council established by Governor Rick Perry in late 2009. The Council aims to improve school readiness in Texas through targeted strategies stemming from the Councils four priority areas:

• Parental Outreach and Communications
• Early Childhood Workforce and Professional Development
• Collaborations and Standards
• Data Systems and Quality Rating and Improvement Systems

Over the course of three years, the Council will spend $11.4 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds to improve key aspects of early care and education in Texas. Impetus and rules for the Texas Early Learning Council and other similar entities throughout the country were both created in the Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007, which required the Governor of each State to designate or establish a council to serve as the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care (referred to simply as State Advisory Councils).