麻豆精品

Top Takeaways is a series of recaps from important conversations, town halls, webinars and virtual events about early learning.

On Dec. 8, hosted a conversation to discuss the results of the 2020 election in terms of its likely impact on policies and investments affecting young children in 2021 and beyond. Featured on the panel were Katie Hamm (), Cemer茅 James (, NBCDI) and Sarah Rittling ().

Javaid Siddiqi, president and CEO of The Hunt Institute, welcomed the audience, then handed it off to Dan Wuori, director of early learning, to moderate. Here are our top three takeaways from the event.

1. Early child care and education get bipartisan support. Many things are dividing us as a country, but there鈥檚 an opportunity for unity when it comes to early care and learning. Sarah Rittling, executive director of the First Five Years Fund, said, 鈥淰oters don鈥檛 necessarily go to the polls because of where candidates are on child care or early childhood education, but they certainly want a better tomorrow for their children.鈥�

According to the,

• Over half of respondents believe that federal funding for quality early education from birth to age five鈥攊ncluding child care and preschool鈥攕hould be increased.
• 77% agreed that the care and education of children from birth through five is a public good.
• 83% of voters in key electoral battleground states say that candidates for office, including for President, should have plans and policies to help working parents afford high-quality child care.

2. Accountability and equity are essential. Future administrations have a lot of work to do to deliver on these unifying ideals, especially since the shock of COVID-19 on our early childhood systems will cause long-term effects. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 have enough child care in this county to begin with,鈥� Katie Hamm, vice president of the Center for American Progress, said. 鈥淚f we think we can recover, vaccine or no vaccine, without saving the child care industry, we have another thing coming.鈥�

However, the panelists expressed hope for a better future for all children if we use this moment as an opportunity for real change. Cemer茅聽James, interim president and CEO at the National Black Child Development Institute, said, 鈥淭here is a unifying conversation around young children; there鈥檚 also a need to challenge the way we talk about it so that we weave equity into the conversation much more comprehensively.鈥�

3. Biden鈥檚 education plan is ambitious. The incoming administration shows signs of being prepared to get the country back on track. 鈥淭here are many policies that the Trump administration put forward and implemented that were really harmful to young children, especially children of immigrants and Black children,鈥� Hamm said. 鈥淚 think the incoming administration has proposed the most ambitious agenda for young children that we鈥檝e ever seen.鈥� The comprehensive proposes improvements such as expansions in home visiting, child care, health care support for young children, an increase in wages for child care providers and more. 鈥淲e鈥檙e talking huge systematic, comprehensive reform for zero to five child care.鈥�

This story originally published on Early Learning Nation and is now archived on 麻豆精品. Learn more here.