MARYLAND – Lawmakers say investing in early education for our children creates a strong foundation for their future. This comes as $28,000,000 of federal funding will go towards early education programs across the State of Maryland.

$10,000,000 of the federal funding will be distributed between Wicomico, Somerset and all other counties on the Eastern Shore to make sure the children and parents are receiving all the resources that they need for proper early child development. 

Julie Peters is the Chief Communications Officer at Shore Up in Salisbury,  one of the organizations that will receive a portion of the $10,000,000 in federal funding.

“We try to instill a love of education and make sure all of the children’s needs are being met and we work with the parents one on one to make sure they are actively engaged with their children.”

“We are really looking for new teachers, teaching staff and bus aids,” Peters said. “We need all of those positions filled so we can fill up our classrooms come fall.”

Peters says this is a problem nationwide where there’s a shortage of teachers and staff. Two of the biggest programs available through Shore Up are the “Head Start” and “Early Head Start” programs, two areas of education that this federal funding is focused on.

“Both programs have a focus on meeting the social, educational, nutritional and developmental needs of young children to prepare them for their public school careers and their future.”

The federal funding was secured by Maryland’s U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen. Senator Cardin issued the following statement to 47ABC saying, “We never get do-overs when it comes to our children’s early development, which makes ongoing federal investment in Maryland to strengthen and expand our early education programs incredibly important,” Senator Cardin said.

“We want to make sure that each child has a chance to acquire the skills they need to be successful throughout their lives,”  Helping children succeed should be a priority for every American.”