Ohio is offering a free summer food program for anyone ages 1 through 18. Detailed information, including a map of food sites, can be found here. 
Quotable & Notable
“If we truly want to give parents choices, we need to offer options for providing and receiving care while meeting household expenses and saving for emergencies and the future... It would be a national tragedy if America were to come through the pandemic without enacting comprehensive national policies. It would be even more foolish if the reason we didn’t is because some politicians have personal histories or notions that don’t reflect the reality of most families in this country today. Their vision of America is not today’s America, and for many people it was not yesterday’s either. We must invest in care if we want to build back better.” 
who:
Vicki Shabo and Marcia St. Hilaire-Finn

where:
Fact of the Week
CBS News reports that 36 million U.S. families may qualify for monthly payments under the federal Child Tax Credit. The expanded tax benefit means these families may be eligible to receive up to $300 per child, per month from July 15-December 15 based on their income.  
Policy Radar
Ohio 
Ohio Sen. Tina Maharath has introduced legislation that would make child care an eligible campaign expense for would-be political candidates. Child care can be paid for with campaign dollars for federal races as well in 22 other states.  
 
By this time next week, Ohio’s budget for the coming biennium will have been finalized and signed by the governor. This week, deliberations seem to be centered on school funding, funds for broadband expansion, and the state’s Step Up to Quality program. Groundwork Ohio’s executive director Shannon Jones wrote a Dispatch op-ed that articulates why the SUTQ rules are worth upholding. Gov. DeWine can use his power of the pen and choose to line-item veto portions of it. In 2019, he vetoed 25 items in the bill. 
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Columbus 
City Council passed a resolution this week that acknowledged racial inequities in the City of Columbus as well as the systemic racism that adversely impacts residents of color. It also declared the Council’s commitment to advancing racial equity.  
 
Meanwhile, Ohio state lawmakers – and some state board of education members – continue their push against “critical race theory.” We’re using quotations as it’s not clear from the testimony coverage we’ve read that there are any examples of how or when CRT was specifically taught in Ohio schools or that lawmakers are clear about its definition.  
Beyond the Buckeye State
The Florida “reading corps” program described here connects tutors with children in the early grades for intensive literacy skills development and “attempts to bridge the research on early literacy instruction to on-the-ground practice.”  The Crane Center has partnered with Columbus City Schools for a similar research-based reading tutoring program, Kindergarten Corps. 
What We're Reading
Bipartisan Policy Center examines four successful state mixed-delivery early care and education systems. (Mixed-delivery systems allow pre-K and early care to be provided in a variety of settings – private, public, family/home care, center-based, Head Start, etc.) BPC finds that mixed-delivery systems are mutually beneficial to families and providers, preserving parent choice while also supporting increased fiscal stability for providers. 
 
Here is a really thoughtful piece from the Education Writers Association (EWA) offering tips for journalists in how they cover early care and education, especially during pandemic recovery. 
 
Council for a Strong America estimates the infant-toddler care crisis to have cost Ohio $1.7 billion, according to this interactive map. 
 
Vox explores the recent political popularity of paid family leave, including among conservatives. Politico has a similar article on conservative support for child care infrastructure. 
Research Round Up
The Hechinger Report describes federal rules around parental consent for educational research - for instance, a study of teacher instructional practices. It’s a very informative read about the regulations governing educational research, student privacy laws, and general ethical considerations in this line of research – some of which may be surprising. 
This edition written by: Jamie Davies O'Leary, Associate Director of Policy and Caitlin Lennon, Communications & Policy Specialist
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