A Vision for Early Childhood Education in Virginia Revisited
Pamela Northam, First Lady of Virginia and Chair of the Northam Administration’s Children’s Cabinet
After traveling well over 7,000 miles across the Commonwealth, I have had the great honor of sitting down with many of you, listening to your inspiring stories and learning from you. It was hearing the challenges, and visionary ideas of educators, parents, providers and community leaders that resulted in our transformational 2020 Early Childhood legislation, and the new Office of Early Childhood at the Virginia Department of Education, which is focused on improving school readiness across all settings. Having this infrastructure in place before the pandemic upended our lives enabled us to quickly deploy over $300 million in federal relief dollars to our early childhood system so that a majority of providers, with undaunted courage, remained open throughout the entire pandemic. An incredible 90% of Virginia’s early educators continue to serve families today!
This Spring the Governor and I have been visiting schools to thank our superhero educators and school personnel for their incredible dedication to the children of the Commonwealth. Despite the unbelievable challenges, you have been amazingly innovative and flexible, ready to pivot each time we learned more about how to keep our children safe, healthy and learning. I am so humbled and grateful for each and every one of you.
As you well know, the pandemic has disproportionately affected our littlest learners. This year’s VKRP results showed the greatest one-year drop in literacy skills that we have ever seen, and we have heard concerns from many of you about social-emotional development. However, we also know that our children are resilient, and thanks to your consistent care and concern (and work to welcome them safely back to in-person learning) we know they will recover! The Governor and the General Assembly recently gave Superintendent James Lane the ability to temporarily waive the age requirement for the Virginia Preschool Initiative. This means children of kindergarten age who are not yet ready for kindergarten can instead enroll in one year of Pre-K to ensure they are prepared to succeed.
It was so exciting to hear President Biden and Dr. Biden also speaking about the importance of access to preschool and affordable quality childcare when I met them on their recent visit to Virginia. Our team has made it a priority to expand our system to include all underserved three and four-year-old children in the next five years- without sacrificing quality- by making over $50 million in new state investments in the Governor’s most recent budget and dedicating an additional 40% of future revenue from the legal sale of marijuana. The Governor and I are so encouraged and feel hopeful with the addition of the President’s game-changing proposals at the federal level.
Quality childcare for young children can cost more than college tuition, making it unattainable for thousands of Virginia families. As mentioned in last month’s VKRP update from David Cary, we are excited to offer significantly expanded access to affordable childcare and we want this important resource to be sustained long term to help families, and our country, get back on the road to work and recovery.
Andreas Schleicher, international education researcher, recently wrote of the importance of “Educating learners for their futures, not our past.” It is my hope that we may use this time of crisis to continue to create real and lasting change. We can use this momentum to reshape curricula and maximize learning environments to meet the needs of 21st century learners. Nearly $800 million has been allotted to Virginia through the American Rescue Plan, a once-in-a-lifetime investment to make Virginia’s early learning system stronger and more equitable than ever before. Making a truly equitable system will require significant investments from the federal, state, and local governments in the future, and your voice will continue to be a vital part of giving every child a great start in life. Thank you again for all you do for our littlest learners. And as I always say, you truly hold the future in your hands.
Pamela Northam is the First Lady of Virginia, and chair of the Northam Administration’s Children’s Cabinet. She began her professional career as a Pediatric Occupational Therapist, later becoming a science educator for twelve years, then outreach coordinator for an environmental nonprofit.
More questions? VKRP provides support via the online chat feature when you are in the system, via email vkrp@virginia.edu, and via toll free 866-301-8278 ext. 1
