A Message from NAEYC’s Michelle Kang (NAEYC CEO) and Natalie Vega O’Neill (NAEYC Governing Board President)
In a message sent last Friday, NAEYC shared the following along with a call to action.
The Senate unveiled a reconciliation bill on Wednesday that does not include a single dollar for child care.
- Zero Funding for early childhood educators
- Zero Funding for struggling early learning programs
- Zero Funding for parents desperately seeking to afford high-quality care
Here are five steps we must take together:
Step 1: Read Michelle’s response to the reconciliation proposal and be reaffirmed that NAEYC will continue to be the relentless advocate our members and field need us to be
Step 2: Reach out directly to your Member of Congress! Let them know why funding child care is so critical, and why now is the moment for action. Every message counts.
Step 3: Sent an email? Great! Now reinforce your message by making a phone call to your Senator’s office. Here’s a script you can use. Let’s flood their phone lines with our concerns.
Step 4: Is your child care program struggling with staffing shortages? Has this forced you to serve less children? NAEYC wants Congress to see what will continue to happen without additional funding for child care. Send us photos of empty classes, chairs, cubbies, or corners you’re not able to use because you don’t have enough staff. Include the name, city and state of your program and send the photos to advocacy@naeyc.org or DM us on Instagram or Twitter. Let’s show Congress what the future will look like if they don’t #SolveChildCare!
Step 5: Many of you have seen the Little Miss and Mr. Men memes on social media. Well, we now have child care themed ones! Share these on social media and tag your Senators. (Find their handles and contact info here.) Your advocacy has been absolutely critical in helping us get to this point, and we remain grateful for everything you do, every single day, on behalf of young children and families.
