The Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth supports the funding of early childhood education using monies generated by a state lottery.

Overwhelming evidence exists that quality early childhood education has long-term effects that reduce crime and increase Abilities to learn. A presentation (available as a pdf file) prepared by the State Board of Education and presented to the legislature by Dr. Douglas E. Wood, the Board's executive director, details the findings. (Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is required to view the file, may be downloaded at no cost.)

The report says research has found that poverty has more impact on measures of learning than any of the other factors, including race, ethnicity, home reading, family educational expectations, etc. Every county in Tennessee has a lot of poor children, as evidenced by this map. The map was produced by Legislative Information Services at the request of Rep. Tommie Brown.

For more information about legislation related to early childhood education, see TCCY's legislative information page.