On October 9, Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell signed a budget that cuts overall state spending but protects pre-k and other critical education investments. Basic education funding will increase by $300 million, and the state's Pre-K Counts program will be flat funded for the coming year. During the budget debate, the legislature considered proposals that would have decreased the state's pre-k investment by as much as 50 percent. In the end, Pennsylvania's early education champions prevailed, emphasizing that quality pre-k is precisely the kind of proven, cost-effective program that will help states emerge from the current fiscal crisis stronger and more economically competitive. "We know that one of the reasons Pennsylvania has made so much academic progress over the past six years is that we are investing in what works – starting with high-quality early childhood education," said Gov. Rendell.

Pre-k was front and center at New Jersey's first gubernatorial debate, the only planned public forum asking the candidates to focus on family issues. Incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine, a surrogate for Republican challenger Chris Christie, and independent candidate Chris Daggett debated topics such as education, child abuse prevention, and gang violence. Forum organizer Cecilia Zalkind of the Association for Children of New Jersey said the event was a success. Explaining the need for the debate, she told the New Jersey Star-Tribune: "As the campaigns geared up this summer, we were pretty dismayed that the discussion seemed to be a lot about taxes and corruption and what one could say negatively about the other, and not about the substantive issues that we care about."

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