Dear Members of the Early Care and Education Community,

We See You; We Hear You and We Are with You! We recognize your value and worth to our children, their families, and the economy. In living up to our mission to support high quality learning through connecting practice, policy, and research, we are putting in motion a plan of strategic and intentional advocacy. For the worth of the early educators to truly be realized, it is time to move beyond the traditional thinking around childcare and be seen as educators and organizations that set the course for success in school and beyond. We can no longer ignore the research that clearly states the critical importance of the first five years of life.  

 

Our country is facing a crisis in early care and education.  Structural racism and systemic inequalities are threatening the health and well-being of Black, Brown, and Indigenous children, their families, communities, and early childhood educators. The pandemic has made it perfectly clear; without childcare and early childhood education the country cannot function.  We are essential workers.  Childcare needs to be the backbone of our nation's response to these disasters and the road to recovery.

We need to resolve these issues.  Through education and sharing our stories, we can begin.  No one local, state, or federal representative can genuinely know about the work we do until they see and hear it for themselves. Step One in our statewide advocacy effort will be the virtual screening of the "No Small Matter" documentary. Together, with our local Fairfield, New Haven, and Hartford chapters, we are organizing three virtual screenings. The dates and times are listed below. We intend to invite as many elected officials as we can to attend these screenings. As we enter into an election year, we must step up and engage in the kind of advocacy that moves our state leaders to create new policies that build an early care and education infrastructure that sustains us now and beyond our pandemic status.  In these unprecedented times, our elected officials must realize that we need their leadership, advocacy, and support to move forward.

 

Consider this Your Call to Action! Invite your colleagues and families to join us as we seize this moment and embark on a movement to collectively make our case that we are the workforce behind the workforce. The future of our children, families, businesses, and state rely on us.
 

To stay informed about our advocacy efforts, please like our CTAEYC Facebook page, follow us on Instagram, and bookmark our website.  Consider becoming a member to support NAEYC's work to secure a sustainable and equitable future for early care and education.  We need your voice to make a difference.

Each "No Small Matter" documentary screening will be hosted by a local chapter of CTAEYC with a facilitated discussion immediately following. Participants are welcome to join any date and time that works for them. Membership is not required but encouraged. If each session reaches capacity, more screenings will be considered. 

 

Thank you!

 

 

Yours in advocacy,

CTAEYC Board and Staff