Children Matter: City Council, Corporate Citizens Need to Invest in Early Childhood Education

“…Recent studies suggest that one critical form of education, early childhood development…, is grossly under-funded. However, if properly funded and managed, investment in ECD yields an extraordinary return, far exceeding the return on most investments, private or public…. In the future any proposed economic development list should have early childhood development at the top.”
— Arthur Rolnick and Robert Grunewald, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

How do you make a city if you exclude children and families from planning?  Many young professionals who live and work in Emeryville move to the suburbs to find homes and schools once they have families.

In Santa Monica as development took place, early education facilities were included in the overall planning design.  This meant that centers for children and families were abundant and programs had beautiful facilities in which young children could thrive.

American early educators travel, when they can, to see innovative programs.  The schools of Reggio Emilia and Pistoia in Italy are great early education communities.  They believe in investing in their young children.  I live in the Bay Area where some of the best minds in early childhood education also live and work.  We missed an opportunity: Emeryville is small enough to make big things happen in early education.

I had a vision that our city council would invest in early education as Santa Monica and other cities have done.  I was delighted when ECDC got its new building.  It is a beautiful facility, full of possibilities, and it could have marked the beginning of something exciting in Emeryville and in the whole East Bay.  But true investment in the program never happened, and it was never seen as connected to the schools.  Emeryville has an Ed Fund, but none of the money flows into early education.

Many years ago, I met with John Flores, the past City Manager, in the hope of persuading him to consider ideas such as: a training-early education program to support the birth to three community, investment in prenatal to five, an early education task force, and many other ideas relating to sound early education and family policy.  Giving children a great early start would benefit the K-12 schools.  Families would be connected to the schools and meaningfully engaged in their children’s learning even before they reached Kindergarten.

Nothing happened.  What I saw instead was a move away from thoughtful community living to a city increasingly alienating to long-term residents.

We eventually hit the great early education crisis in the city—the canary in the mine, so to speak.  City staff recommended that ECDC be closed.  It was losing monies and therefore not viable.  Some of the lowest paid city workers were to be displaced.  Selling off the center or leasing it would bring in short-term revenue and save the day, but not the long-term prospects of the schools or city.

Thanks to the parents of children enrolled in ECDC, and other city residents, the center still lives.  The outpouring of support, and a sound proposal from the parents saved the program.  The message was clear: early education is valued here and is beneficial to the community.  Measure J, however it was sold, also made it clear that the community cares about education.

A K-12 partnership with the early education community and the families of young children would provide a smooth transition to the EUSD system.  Residents have demonstrated  that they want children to be educated in beautiful learning environments.  Now all we need is the city and the corporations in town to do the same.

Ruth Major, M.A. Education, Consultant in Early Education and Infant Family Mental Health. Ruth is on the Advisory Board for ECDC and the EUSD Wellness Committee for Family/Community Involvement.  She is also a member of Residents United for a Livable Emeryville (RULE).

(Photo by Benjamin Earwicker)

This entry was posted in Education. Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to Children Matter: City Council, Corporate Citizens Need to Invest in Early Childhood Education

  1. Cheryl Webb says:

    Thanks Ruth for writing this article reminding us how important it is to pay attention to early life.

    Below is from this website under why it matters: http://www.seedsofcompassion.org/why/

    “80% of the brain has developed by the time a child is 5 years-old and entering Kindergarten. Imagine a child who has been strapped in a chair for the first five years of life and then is asked to get up and run, vs. a child who has been given exercise the whole time. Who would win the race of life?”

    I heard years ago (wish I could find the source) that development of compassion peaks by age 6. We miss the most important years by waiting until Kindergarten for public education. This again from the Seeds of Compassion website:

    “Compassion is an understanding of the emotional state of another. Not to be confused with empathy, compassion is often combined with a desire to alleviate or reduce the suffering of another or to show special kindness to those who suffer. However, compassion may lead an individual to feel empathy with another person.”

    I appreciate being able to meet with you from time to time. Until our next…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *