City Profile: Educational Alignment for Young Children
S ince 1985, when Austin Mayor Frank Cooksey created the Mayor’s
Task Force on Childcare, early childhood professionals, parents and child advocates have been working to ensure that every child in the city has the opportunity to succeed.
In 2005, the City of Austin, Travis County, the United Way and other early childhood advocates, experts, parents, service providers and business leaders joined forces to better align their early childhood efforts. They developed a School Readiness Action Plan (SRAP) for
Austin/Travis County. The SRAP is a living document that sets out the vision and goals for an early learning community that is “second to none.” The plan’s goals focus on ready families, ready early education services, ready health and mental health services, and ready communities.
In 2009, the Mayor’s Task Force on Childcare evolved into the Early
Childhood Council , a group of early childhood advocates and stakeholders that includes education providers, directors of programs for children and families, and academic experts. The Early Childhood
Council makes recommendations to the Austin City Council regarding policies and programs that contribute to the continued development of a high-quality early care and education system.
The School Readiness Action Plan Leadership Team and the Early
Childhood Council have overlapping members and are aligned in their approaches.
 The City of Austin increased its health and human services funding for early childhood by nearly $1 million over a threeyear period.
 In response to community advocacy, the Austin Public Library more than doubled the number of bilingual story times in lowincome neighborhoods.
 The percentage of children who entered kindergarten “school ready” increased by 5 percent, from 49 percent in 2011 to 54 percent in 2014.
Steve Adler
912,791
Population under 5:
7.3%
Percent under 5 in Poverty:
28.0%
White:
68.3%
Hispanic or Latino:
35.1%
Black or African American:
8.1%
Asian:
6.3%
Two or more races:
3.4%
American Indian and Alaska Native:
0.9%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific
Islander:
0.1%
$53,946
Source:
KIDS COUNT Data Center
United States Census Bureau

Key elements of Austin’s educational alignment work include:
 The early childhood community in Austin has developed a practice of shared leadership among the major early childhood players, including the City of Austin, Travis County, the United Way, Austin
Independent School District (ISD), the local workforce development board and Head Start. This collaboration has provided a sense of shared input and ownership, and has contributed to the sustainability of the partnerships behind the action plan.
 The City of Austin now requires city-funded services to align with the SRAP. When applying for funding from the city, community-based organizations must demonstrate how their project or plan aligns with the key components of the SRAP. This ensures that any organization receiving city funds considers how their project prepares children for school and aligns with city’s goals to create an early learning community that is “second to none.”
 With 11 incoming councilmembers and Mayor Steve Adler taking office in January 2015, the SRAP
Leadership Team and the Early Childhood Council made strategic efforts to position themselves as a valuable local resource on early childhood care and education. They wrote a welcome letter to the new city council members describing the purpose and accomplishments of the Early Childhood Council and their ongoing responsibilities to the city council. The United Way and Early Childhood Council also hosted an early childhood breakfast briefing for city council members and staff to provide an update on the current SRAP and other issues related to early learning. These efforts will be followed by individual meetings and presentations to each of the new city council members as part of the roll out of an updated
SRAP in spring 2016.
 As a part of an intentional effort to enhance coordination among SRAP partners, the City of Austin collaborated with Austin ISD to promote Pre-K enrollment for four-year-olds for the 2015-2016 school year. The city posted flyers throughout city buildings and sponsored three public service announcements with Mayor Adler, Superintendent Dr. Paul Cruz and Chief of Police Art Acevedo.
Austin ISD enrolled 4,600 children, well above their projected enrollment numbers.
NLC’s Educational Alignment initiative, generously supported by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, is a two-year technical assistance initiative to help city leaders promote the healthy development and education of children and increase the likelihood that they will achieve educational success by the end of third grade.
The National League of Cities is dedicated to helping city leaders build better communities. NLC is a resource and advocate for 19,000 cities, towns and villages, representing more than 218 million Americans.
NLC's Institute for Youth, Education, and Families (YEF Institute) helps municipal leaders take action on behalf of the children, youth and families in their communities. NLC launched the YEF Institute in 2000 in recognition of the unique and influential roles that mayors, city councilmembers and other local leaders play in strengthening families and improving outcomes for children and youth.