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US Troops Jill Biden
First lady Jill Biden, center, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, left, watch four and five-year-olds build with blocks at a military early childhood education program at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Tara Copp)

Jill Biden and Lloyd Austin visit an Alabama base to tout expanded military benefits

First lady Jill Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have gone to Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama to highlight programs that the administration is rolling out to improve service members’ quality of life as well as early childhood education in the military

By TARA COPP
Published - Sep 13, 2024, 06:30 PM ET
Last Updated - Dec 16, 2024, 07:15 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Jill Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin traveled Friday to Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama to highlight programs that the Pentagon and White House are rolling out to improve service members' quality of life as well as early childhood education in the military.

Biden and Austin visited a pre-kindergarten program the first lady has championed that funds universal preschool for children aged 3 and 4. The administration plans to expand it beyond military facilities and into education systems nationwide.

She said the program at Maxwell Elementary School — which provides full-day pre-kindergarten care for military children —“is part of the blueprint for making high-quality preschool available to every 3- and 4-year-old in America.”

In the on-base classroom, children identified letters, and once they did, got to feed a green paper dinosaur that Austin and Biden took turns holding. The kids also sang a song about frogs.

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