Early Childhood Professionals FROM 35 STATES COME TO CAPITOL HILL TO URGE CONGRESS TO INVEST IN HIGH-QUALITY EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Early ChILdhood Professionals FROM 35 STATES COME TO CAPIToL HILL TO Urge CONGRESS TO INVEST IN high-quality early childhood education 

New Haven, CT – Members and leaders of the Connecticut Association for the Education of Young Children, an affiliate of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), met on March 11 with members of the United States Congress and staff to push forward a comprehensive agenda for the nation’s children and professionals that work with them. The recent release of President Obama’s budget request and the Senate debate on the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program puts a spotlight on the critical nature of high-quality early childhood programs. They highlighted in their meetings:

* The need to make improvements in the Child Care and Development Block Grant to raise the quality of care and a more streamlined assistance system, coupled with the resources to implement these reforms and to help more families afford high-quality child care;  

* A variety of federal legislative vehicles could be used to support the preparation, ongoing professional development, and improved compensation of early childhood educators so that programs can attract and retain high-quality teachers and staff;           

* Support for the Strong Start for America’s Children Act which includes state-federal partnerships to expand high quality preschool to more low-income children and partnerships between Early Head Start and child care providers to improve the quality of care for infants and toddlers; and

* Needed investments across the early childhood education system, serving children from birth onward - supported not only by educators but also by business, military, and public safety officers because of the return on the public investment.  

“As an early childhood professional, I came to Washington, DC to tell my members of Congress how federal policies and investments will help more children in Connecticut  thrive and be successful in school and in life,” said Gail Corbett Dandelske, VP Public Policy, CAEYC. “Congress must enact policies, provide resources, and ensure as many children as possible benefit from high-quality early childhood education programs, to help close the ever widening achievement gap.”

Learn more at www.naeyc.org and www.ctaeyc.org