On Friday night, the U.S. Department of Education notified the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) that its 2020-2025 Ready To Learn grant is terminated, effective immediately.
CPB has responded to the move.
On Sunday, CPB informed PBS and 44 public media stations in 28 states and the District of Columbia that receive Ready To Learn grants to stop work immediately, pausing the program in rural and urban communities throughout the country.
“Nearly every parent has raised their kids on public broadcasting’s children’s content. For the past 30 years, Ready To Learn-funded PBS KIDS content has produced measurable, real-world impacts on children’s learning,” said Patricia Harrison, President and CEO of CPB. “Ready To Learn has received strong bipartisan support from Congress and every Administration for the last 30 years because of the programs’ proven educational value in advancing early learning skills for all children. We will work with Congress and the Administration to preserve funding for this essential program.”
Congress is also aware that public media offers a safe place for children to learn, protected from inappropriate content on commercial and social media – free of charge and commercial free, CPB said.
