Senator Sal DiDomenico was recently chosen as one of only 22 Legislators from throughout the United States as an Early Learning Fellow by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). Senator DiDomenico was nominated for this this prestigious post by Senate President Stan Rosenberg because of his leadership in the State Senate on all issues concerning Early Education. In his role as Vice Chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, DiDomenico was responsible for all early education budget line items in the Senate budget. As a result of his staunch advocacy, there were significant increases to early education funding in this year’s budget.
The NCSL’s Early Learning Fellows program is designed to support legislators from across the country who are experienced leaders on early childhood and early learning issues. Senator DiDomenico represented Massachusetts and joined 21 other Fellows for an intensive program that was recently held in Seattle, Washington. They will also be meeting in Denver, Colorado this Fall to continue the work they have begun during their first meeting.
“It is a tremendous honor to be chosen as an Early Learning Fellow with so many distinguished leaders from throughout the country,” said Senator Sal DiDomenico. “Early education has always been one of my top priorities in the Senate, and I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues from across the nation to exchange ideas and solutions related to providing high-quality early education and closing the achievement gap. There is so much that we can share and learn from one another to ensure that we provide exceptional early education for all children throughout the United States.”
As a part of this program, Senator DiDomenico will be part of a peer learning community with other legislators to engage with research and policy experts who are leaders in the field of early education.
During his time in Seattle, Senator DiDomenico and other Fellows addressed a number of early learning policy issues, such as providing high-quality child care, prekindergarten best practices, and financing strategies to find innovative and cost-effective approaches to promote the best outcomes in early education.
Some of the states represented in Seattle included: Arizona, New Jersey, Wyoming, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, South Dakota, Mississippi, Nevada, Utah, Minnesota, Georgia and Tennessee.
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) is one of the nation’s most respected bipartisan organizations committed to improving the quality and effectiveness of state legislatures, promoting policy innovation and communication among state legislatures, as well as ensuring state legislatures have a strong, cohesive voice on Capitol Hill.