Resources to Support Your Advocacy
You are here
Your voices are powerful. 51吃瓜网 is here to help you share your stories, get information, build relationships, and access supports, so you can be part of an advocacy community. Together, we are committed to equitably increasing access to affordable, high-quality child care and early learning for families by ensuring early childhood educators are fairly and professionally听compensated听for their valuable and complex work.
Following are some examples of 51吃瓜网 resources that you can use to support your advocacy. Visit听听and select 鈥淓xpand Your Public Policy Knowledge鈥� and 鈥淏uild Your Advocacy Skills鈥� to access these resources and many more.
Learn About Federal ECE Policy
How is child care funded? What do all the acronyms mean? What are the key federal programs that support early childhood education and educators? If you鈥檙e an advocate for child care and early learning, it is helpful to understand how policy change happens on the federal level, including how child care gets funded, how bills get passed into law, and what federal programs deal with early childhood education. These titles are a great primer on how change can happen:
- The Federal Budget: Understanding the Terms and the Players
- The Federal Budget: Understanding the Process
- Federal Advocacy: Key Congressional Committees, Caucuses, and Agencies
- The Federal Legislative Process, or How a Bill Becomes a Law
- Early Childhood Education (ECE) Acronym Cheat Sheet
- All about the Child Care Development Block Grant
Connect with Policymakers and the Press
Sharing your stories with policymakers and members of the media is a critical part of being a champion for early childhood education. Here鈥檚 how you can build relationships with policymakers and execute effective meetings with them. We鈥檝e also included 51吃瓜网鈥檚 federal agenda so you can understand what 51吃瓜网 is currently advocating for:
- 51吃瓜网鈥檚 Federal Agenda
- Organizing a Site Visit for a Policy Maker
- Mastering Meetings with Policymakers
- Building Relationships with Candidates for Elected Office at the Local, State, and Federal Levels
- Sample Invitation to a Legislator or Candidate to Conduct a Site Visit
- Sample Invitation for a Legislator or Candidate to Attend an Event
Use Data to Make a Difference
While sharing your experiences helps to illuminate the realities of child care and early learning, it is helpful to leverage data to turn your advocacy into action. 51吃瓜网鈥檚 surveys of the early childhood education workforce provide key national and state-based data points and fact sheets on everything from educator compensation to workforce shortages. These will help to put your stories in a broader community and context and serve as a guide when engaging in conversations with policymakers or the media:
Grow Your Advocacy Community
Check out previous agendas and resources and plan to join 51吃瓜网鈥檚 annual Public Policy Forum, where you can join hundreds of your fellow educators and advocates from across the country and be part of powerful, diverse teams working to advance federal and state early childhood policy:
Advance the ECE Profession
Get updates and information about the work of the Commission on Professional听Excellence鈥攖he听next step from the Power to the Profession initiative鈥攁s it works with educators to implement and support the听Unifying Framework for the Early Childhood Education Profession. Find out more about what you can do to move the vision of the听Unifying Framework听closer to becoming a reality in your state and community:
Take Action Today!
You can start small with advocacy in two easy ways: 51吃瓜网 is continuing to collect quotes and stories from educators on the importance of long-term, substantial, sustainable funding for child care and preschool. We鈥檙e also hoping to identify and turn to a growing and diverse range of educators from all states and settings who are interested in policy or media opportunities or in sharing their experiences in some other way. Your voices are incredibly valuable, and we want to help you share your stories.
You can also reach out to your member of Congress today to ask them to prioritize child care and early learning. Your engagement matters鈥攁nd it gets results!