Thank You for Participating in Advocacy Day on March 20

Dear Advocacy Day Attendee,

Thank you to everyone who participated in our first-ever Advocacy Day in Trenton on Monday, March 20. We had 90 attendees in-person or virtually to discuss pressing legislative issues related to community-based early childhood education centers in New Jersey. This was a tremendous collaboration between Early Childhood Education Advocates, of which I am president, and the Early Care & Education Consortium, represented at the event by Elsa Jacobsen.

We were fortunate to have a well-informed and dynamic panel of early care and education experts who engaged in a robust discussion about where the industry is headed and ways in which state lawmakers can strengthen the system. We learned more about the government affairs process from our lobbyist, Barbara DeMarco, as well as met with Assemblyman Don Guardian, who attended our morning “meet and greet.” Guardian said there should be legislative hearings to discuss our concerns; we strongly agreed and encouraged him to make this happen.

We also toured the Statehouse, attended a General Assembly committee hearing and had informal discussions with state elected leaders about ways in which they can support the early childhood education sector.

Our key messages: 

1. Mixed delivery must be the future for New Jersey’s UPK program.
2. There must be increased pay for early childhood education staff, many of whom are paid minimum wage at centers around the state.

Through numbers, there is strength. Please get involved to ensure the delivery of high-quality early childhood education, while protecting the future of your programs.  To that end, if you are not yet a member of ECEA, please visit eceadvocates.com and join today to receive legislative updates and alerts about how to take action on important early childhood issues! You can also make a tax-deductible donation on the site.

We look forward to holding more of these informative advocacy programs in Trenton as a way to ensure our message is heard.  Thank you for all you do for the early childhood education industry in New Jersey. I look forward to speaking with you soon!

Sincerely,

Gigi Schweikert
President
Early Childhood Education Advocates (ECEA)