By Tom Flanigan
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-847689.mp3
Tallahassee, Fl – Florida's Early Learning Program has a waiting list of low-income children. Tom Flanigan reports that federal stimulus money is opening up thousands of program slots and that will cut the waiting list nearly in half. Florida's Agency for Workforce Innovation administers the state's Early Learning Program. At the moment, nearly sixty-thousand low-income kids are on the program's wait list. Agency Director Cynthia Lorenzo says that's why the federal stimulus money is so appreciated. Florida Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp says the program is critical for many working families. The federal money is on top of the just-over-one-billion dollars the state has allocated for early learning programs this year.