It’s that time of year again!
Time, that is, to take our case for kids to the Hill, and we’re doing it on Wednesday, February 19, 2020. Mark your calendars to join us and RSVP here now!
Your support at TQEE Day on the Hill 2019 made a big difference for Tennessee’s young children!!
Because of you we sent a strong message to legislators about the importance of early childhood education. More than 100 early education advocates from across the state joined the TQEE team in meetings with 90+ members of the Tennessee General Assembly. From all walks of life –teachers, early education program directors, mayors, business people and parents – you came to Nashville for the day!
And we made progress!! As a result of your efforts, Tennessee’s youngest learners and their families and teachers had some wins!
- Defended Pre-K from those who would try to siphon funds away from the program!
- Won new investments in teacher training and support
- Held the line on accountability and ensuring parents and teachers have the data needed to track their students’ progress
- Established broad legislative support for home visiting programs that help struggling parents build parenting skills and prepare their children for kindergarten
This year, Day on the Hill will be February 19th, 2020, and together we’ll go to bat for more and bigger wins!
Join us to help fight for:
- Adding more PreK classrooms so ultimately all disadvantaged 4 year olds have an option to attend
- Growing home visiting programs that support struggling parents build parenting skills and address health and school readiness needs of young families
- Improving training and professional development to support our early grades teachers
- Increased student support through school nurses and social workers
- Creating more affordable, high quality child care for working families
- Using all available federal funds to support needy Tennessee families rather than giving those monies back for use by other states or stockpiling them for “a rainy day”
And we’ll be armed with new data on the power of PreK and the impact of inadequate child care on young families and our state’s economy.
Our new child care report.
Our new report, “Want to Grow Tennessee’s Economy? Fix the Child Care Crisis,” delivers unprecedented insight into the adverse economic impacts of Tennessee’s child care system dysfunction. The consequences: $1.34 billion annually in lost earnings and revenue.
Access, affordability, and quality are the primary factors that drag down the system. Two-thirds of parents said they have trouble accessing care at all. And that’s made worse by the fact that 48 percent of Tennesseans live in a child care “desert”. That’s an area that has 3x as many children under age 5 as licensed child care spots. Yikes! And two-thirds of parents say affordability of care is a big challenge. In fact the cost of two children in center-based care is nearly $16,000 annually! That’s 21 percent of median income for a Tennessee married family of four! And as if that’s not enough, another 50 percent of parents cite finding suitable quality care as an issue!
You make the difference.
What makes the most difference at Day on the Hill are real people like you telling their stories about why early education matters. Our goal is to make it as easy as possible for policymakers to hear from you! So RSVP TODAY and Save the Date: February 19th, 2020!
Read more about our report titled “Want to Grow Tennessee’s Economy? Fix the Child Care Crisis,” and see our Tennessee Child Care Crisis Solutions Series here.
