Obama Administration Support for Early Childhood Education

I am very hopeful for the future of early childhood education with the upcoming Obama-Biden administration. The early childhood education agenda is promising and it is positive to see the birth to five perspective and a focus on high quality early care and education. It will be important to remain vigilant that this agenda reflects a perspective that includes all children. The enhanced focus on infants and toddlers is sorely needed. If we can strenthen this early system and ensure its inclusivity we are likely to see the path remain strong through preschool and into the elementary years. The recommendation for the new Secretary of Education also holds promise for early childhood. Certainly Chicago Public Schools has been at the forefront with their Parent-Child Centers. The opportunity to see such programs expanded and to have an administration see the value in such iniatives is very encouraging.

I share Jim's hopefulness about the prospects for early childhood under the new administration. In addition to creating new services and programs for children and families, we also need to ensure that some of the resources get directed toward ensuring that we have an effective early childhood workforce. In that regard, we need to pay more attention to models of professional development that reach across sectors of the early childhood field and that lead to more practitioners who are highly effective in working with every young child and family.