Council Letter

August 20, 2024

Dear Colleagues,

Did you know that President Lyndon Baines Johnson once worked as a teacher? And he’s not the only teacher who would become a political leader. President Barack Obama was a law professor for 12 years after earning his J.D. from Harvard. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s first job after college was teaching children with disabilities at a public school. Tim Walz, Minnesota governor and current nominee for VP, taught high school for 20 years. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington State was a preschool teacher and mom who got inspired to enter politics when a male state lawmaker scoffed at her efforts to fight budget cuts to early childhood education.

The lawmaker told her she couldn’t make a difference since “she was just a mom in tennis shoes.” But Murray didn’t let these dismissive words stop her. In response, she organized a grassroots coalition of 13,000 parents that fought successfully to save many preschool programs in the state. So, it was no surprise decades later that Murray scored big wins for children in the Senate Appropriations Committee, where she serves as chair. In 2024, for instance, she used her gavel to add $1 billion in a single year for early learning and care, including a $275 million hike in spending for Head Start, the federal program that Johnson launched in 1965 to assist low-income children.

Like Johnson, Murray wants to “make sure that all kids get a good education,” as she pointed out. “This is always something I focused on. So, when I took on the chair of Appropriations and looked across the wide spectrum of bills that I would be in charge of writing, I thought, ‘Here is where we can finally really make a difference.’” Still, you don’t have to serve in the Senate to make an impact on the early learning field, as Murray had shown through her grassroots campaign. And this month, we feature two members of our profession who are taking steps to advocate for early childhood teachers and the children they serve.

“Advocating for early childhood learning doesn’t have to involve lobbying and taking steps that seem really hard,” Lisa Plotkin says. “It could be talking to someone on the bus or in your family about the vital role that our educators play. It could be setting up a phone bank or sending an email to your state reps”—all small acts that Lisa talks about with members of her grassroots group, Virginia Early Childhood Advocates. “VECA’s goal is to help educators understand the advocacy process,” Lisa says. “For example, how can we support one another as advocates for the early childhood field? How do you talk to lawmakers? What do the discussions you have with them mean? And can you make an impact?”

Rochelle Wilcox is convinced that you can and inspires other educators to join her at For Providers By Providers in New Orleans. She keeps her sense of conviction by recalling this phrase from author Alice Walker: “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” And Rochelle has shown the power of our field by persuading city lawmakers to make hefty investments to expand access to child care. She has also worked to give children skilled teachers by offering CDA® training. And policymakers should provide funding to help teachers earn credentials, Usma Mohamed points out when we review her study on the roadblocks educators face to pursuing professional training.

The Council is knocking these obstacles down as it speaks out in the policy realm and scales up the CDA under the leadership of Dr. Calvin Moore. And this month, Dr. Moore marks Lyndon Baines Johnson Day in his blog by showing how Johnson’s time as a teacher for underserved children shaped him as a leader who strongly supported education. As a young man, Johnson never dreamed he would be in a place to help children like the ones he taught, and once he had the power to do so, he said, “I intend to use it.” The Council does, too, as we ramp up our work to build a skilled early learning workforce and raise the status of our profession. Now, we urge all our teachers to join us and tap into the power they have within to be leaders.

Happy Lyndon Baines Johnson Day,

The Council for Professional Recognition

Share:

Recently Posted:

Blog - Text Search
Blog - Category Search
Blog - Search by Tags
Blog - Publish Date

Experts Speak: Autism and Apraxia

Experts Speak Autism and Apraxia with Elizabeth Vosseller Early childhood educators play a critical role in the lives of young children and their families around the world. As the administrator of the Child Development Associate®...