Presidential Candidates Care About Early Ed

The importance of early care and education continues to attract attention from policymakers and the public. High-quality pre-K programs have demonstrated their potential as early interventions to produce lasting changes in children’s outcomes. With the strengthening call to action, presidential candidates are paying attention to early childhood education. A recent U.S. News article, “Don’t Just Kiss Babies, Promise Them an Education,” by policy analyst Sara Mead helps us understand how to assess candidates and their stance on early care and education.

Early education is a bipartisan issue that voters should key into during the 2016 election. In fact, federal support accounts for a greater share of early education funding than it does for K-12 education. Nationally, early education programs receive over half of their funding from the federal government while K-12 programs receive only 10% of their funding from Washington. This means that the presidential candidates’ ideas about early education can directly impact families and children. But as we try to evaluate the presidential hopefuls over the next 18 months, what exactly should we look for?

Mead offers some important questions: Does the candidate offer concrete proposals, or just general platitudes about the importance of early development? If they commit to significant investments, where will the money come from? How might the candidate incentivize business and civil society to support early education? Overall, how does the candidate frame their stance on early education? Do they focus on social justice, equity in education, improved outcomes for working families, or all three?

Early childhood education may not be a deciding factor in the upcoming campaign, because all candidates can agree on its importance. However, how a candidate speaks about early education will reveal their ideas around the respective roles of government, families, and the civic sector in meeting the needs of vulnerable Americans. So as you follow the 2016 presidential race, ask yourself the questions above. Critique your options and vote for a candidate who truly prioritizes early education.