As part of the Vermont Child Care Campaign October Month of Action, child care programs across the state this past week hosted tours for House and Senate candidates. The tours provided an opportunity for early childhood educators (ECE) in every county and region of Vermont to engage with their local candidates and show them a “day in the life of an ECE.” Of course, the candidates had some fun meeting some pretty cute kiddos along the way!
In all, from October 3rd to 5th, there were 24 child care tours, attended by dozens of candidates, as well as parents. Participating programs included: Apple Tree Child Care Center, Pine Forest Child Care Center, Ready Set Grow Child Care Center, Toddlers Morning Out, Bennington Early Childhood Center, Children Unlimited, Montpelier Children’s House, ARK Child Care, The Natural Child School, Suzy’s Little Peanuts, Growing With Wonder, Rabbit Track, ABC Academy, Little Lambs, Next Generation St Albans, Mountain Road Preschool, Katie LaCasse FCC, Amber Bollman FCC, Tee’s Little Stars FCC, The Children’s Early Learning Space, and the Valley Cooperative Preschool.
During the visits, candidates were given tours of the child care centers and interacted with educators. Candidates were able to see and hear firsthand about the daily challenges every child care program faces – from capacity issues to affordability for parents to compensation for ECEs. The tours also provided an opportunity for program directors, educators and parents to ask questions of the candidates – the most common questions were “once elected, how do you plan to solve the child care crisis?” and “will you support increasing public investment in our child care system?”
Throughout the visits, candidates had amazing things to say about child care and had meaningful interactions with kids and teachers. Parents were also able to attend the tours and share their experiences (both good and bad), provide input, and answer questions about what families need most right now.
Here are the photo highlights!!!
