ADVOCACY
To make your voice heard on early childhood issues:
- Federal Office Holders - contact your congressman
- State Senators – find your senator
- Nebraska Unicameral -information about your state representative and state early childhood issues
- Children’s Defense Fund - information on a national level
- Early Childhood Programs Pay Off - Posting on JournalStar.com – Sept 3, 2009
- NAEYC Children’s Champions - information about early care and education on a national level
- National Head Start Association - Head Start’s political action committee
- Voices for Children in Nebraska - providing advocacy and education services in Nebraska
PAST EVENTS:
Step Up for Kids Day Rally – September 16, 2008
Legislative Breakfast – January 15, 2009
Laws regarding advocacy and education for nonprofit organizations
The Birth to Five Policy Alliance was established in 2005 to help shift the odds for very young children and narrow the achievement gap. The goal is to promote innovative and successful policy ideas that support families in their parenting role and ensure positive early childhood development and learning opportunities for at-risk infants, toddlers, preschoolers and their families.
Getting A Leg Up On Childhood is a video that was on Good Morning America about Educare on Wednesday, September 9, 2009.
Say Yes Now! is a new advocacy video. It is a free online resource you can use to raise awareness and encourage more investment in early care and education. This 10-minute video celebrates high quality care and education programs and shows what happens when children do not have access to these experiences.
James Heckman, the Nobel Prize winning economist is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to the importance of investing early. We highly encourage you to visit his new website at http://www.heckmanequation.org/ and watch the videos and utilize the tools. Share them far and wide – especially with policy leaders and elected officials who get the final vote on how we budget our money as a state and a nation. And as always, thank you for taking the time to speak out on behalf of children.
“Leadership has a harder job to do than just choose sides.
It must bring sides together.”
Jesse Jackson