In My Beginning is My End

The theme for my presentation is from TS. Eliot, Four Quartets:

In my beginning is my end. ?I chose this theme because of it is apropos to the lives of many of us here today. We are nearer the end than the beginning of our lives, but we are at an historic time in our nation’s history when our country is debating major changes to help families of young children who are at the beginning of their lives.

But first a little bit about how I got where I am today. As you heard, my life’s work has been devoted to our youngest children. When I think about my career, I marvel that a girl who was raised to marry well and to whom no one (not my parents, a teacher, counselor, anyone!) ever discussed a career ended up working almost my entire life.

It was one person --Phyllis Richards, in the Child Development Department in home economics at the University of Texas—who helped me find my passion. She bent the rules and allowed me to take all the courses offered in child development my last semester in college. ?That changed my trajectory from secondary education to early education—and gave my life deep purpose—and ended up giving me a career!

When I started teaching first grade many decades ago, Austin had no kindergarten, and Head Start was in its infancy. Only 43% of women worked—and even fewer mothers with young children worked.

?Back when I started my career, we had a little bit of research which showed that children who received a high quality early education did better in school.?But since then, the research on how our youngest children learn has exploded.?We have a vast and impressive body of science—in many fields (education, psychology, medicine, economics and health)-- that show that our brains are built. Brain imaging machines can literally create a visual map of real-time brain activity and show the rapid development that occurs when a child is stimulated—and the lack of brain activity when the opposite occurs.

?Every second, a child under the age of three develops more than a million brain connections that form the foundation for their development – and our nation’s future. When babies have nurturing relationships, positive early learning experiences, and good health and nutrition, those neural connections are stimulated and strengthened, laying a strong foundation for the rest of their lives. When babies do not get what their growing brains need to thrive, they can experience life-long developmental, educational, social, and health challenges.

?Research further shows that providing children a high quality early learning experience reduces the need for special education and remediation,?reduces need for social services, lowers criminal justice costs, increases self-sufficiency and productivity among families, and ensures better health outcomes in later life—yes, lower rates of diabetes and heart disease, just to name a few.

?And spending money early saves us money in the long haul.?According to Nobel Laureate James J. Heckman, “The highest rate of return in early childhood development comes from investing as early as possible, from birth through age five, in disadvantaged families. Starting at age three or four is too little too late, as it fails to recognize that skills beget skills in a complementary and dynamic way. Efforts should focus on the first years for the greatest efficiency and effectiveness.

?Given this research, it is no wonder that our country is debating how we can put in place policies that support families and set babies and young children up for strong development now and success in the future.

?Of course, TS Elliot didn’t know about all this research but was so right when he said in my beginning is my end.

The research basis I just touched on forms the catalyst behind the policies that are currently being debated. We know that as I said brains are built—and they are built from the moment of birth (of even before) through good nutrition but more importantly reciprocal interactions with caring adults.

So all the policies currently in play are aimed to do that—provide children more time with caring adults.

The child care crisis you are reading about in the Statesman and NYT, and hearing about on TV is real.?And it was exacerbated by the Covid pandemic. Covid has almost brought down a very fragile support system for families—and for businesses.

When families select outside care for their young children, they are purchasing brain building and learning opportunities.?Families with resources are able to purchase optimal care to ensure for their children’s optimal development; families without resources– and this can include middle- income families---generally have the least access to good early education meaning that many children enter school behind--- and children who enter behind tend to stay behind.

Finding affordable, accessible and high-quality child care is one of the hardest things for families to do—and it is expensive.

The high cost of child care doesn’t even have the silver lining of providing decent jobs for child care workers, who are so poorly paid many are eligible for food stamps.

?So if we fix the child care system to make access to quality, affordable child care available for all who need it, three groups will benefit.

1.???parents can go to work which will help businesses grow,

2.???early childhood professionals will get training and proper compensation,

3.???And infants and toddlers will receive the care and learning experiences their growing brains need.?

?While child care and preschool are separate systems, they are really the same service—providing a safe and stimulating place so parents can work and an educational learning opportunity for young children.?

?I spent most of the latter part of my career working for the Pew Charitable Trusts and then the Obama Administration to secure pre-k for every 3 and 4 year in this country. So I am pretty excited to see this policy part of our country’s plan for kids.?Just in case any of you are thinking this seems very liberal, Oklahoma and Georgia were the first states to provide universal pre-k for their 4 year olds.?And Alabama has the highest quality program in the country that has been supported by the state’s last 4 Republican Governors.

?Suffice it say—every three-and-four-year old deserves to have a wonderful, play based, high quality early education to get them off to a strong start in Kindergarten.

?Child Tax Credit?

The child tax credit is essentially a child allowance for families who are raising our country’s children. We really don’t need research to tell us that when families do well the kids in that family do well. Families are the best social service system we have. They are more important than preschool and child care.

?Approximately 1 in 5 young children in the US under age 3, live in families with annual household incomes of less than 100% of the federal poverty level or $26,500 per year for a family of four. These families face great difficulties just with meeting basic needs and are likely to face challenges related to adequate shelter, nutrition, and medical care. They also are more likely to experience stress, which can compromise parents’ ability to engage in the warm, responsive interactions that are critical to infants’ and toddlers’ healthy development.

?Experiences of financial hardship during early childhood can disrupt healthy brain development and compromise the foundation for long-term learning, behavior, and health.

Essentially when you give parents money it actually goes to help their children and “buys” time for parent and child interaction. Less stressed parents interact more with their children.

?If made permanent, the expanded Child Tax Credit could reduce child poverty by nearly 50%, leading to immediate and long-term benefits for families and our nation. Increased resources for families now can help lead to more stable housing, better access to nutritious food, and reduced family stress – all of which lay the groundwork for a stronger future.

Paid Leave:

I know the stories of mothers scrambling after a baby is born to stich themselves back together from C-sections and assemble a patchwork of disability leave, vacation and sick days, and unpaid time off, so they can rest briefly and care for an infant before returning to work. The United States is the only country in the industrialized world without federally mandated paid maternity?leave.?This do-it-yourself approach I described is often the only option.

Paid leave would mean fewer parents having to make the impossible choice between time with their young children and their economic security. There is no one better than a new mom or dad to nurture healthy development for babies and address serious health needs right from the start. Paid leave will strengthen families.?And Strong, healthy families mean strong, healthy communities.

?So what can you do?

1.???Take care of the kids in your orbit

2.???Keep educating yourself?

3.???And finally think about your beginning and then about life as it is now.?How can we as a country provide support that my grandmother who lived next door, my aunt across the street and my non working mother provided to me??We aren’t going back to those days. So how can we bring our policies into the 21st century and support families and children.

Our country is at its best when we recognize that children are our greatest resource, and the earliest years of life are the most critical for development. A strong economy depends on strong structures that support families and communities. When all babies and young children have what they need – no matter where they live, their family’s income, or the color of their skin -?it creates a stronger society for all of us. Their growth is America’s growth.

?Families and caregivers have carried this nation on their backs through the pandemic. Now it’s time to have their backs with bold investments in the building blocks they need to thrive: child care and preschool, child tax credit and paid family leave.

?So I will end where I started:?In our country’s beginning is our country’s end.

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