A Vision for the Future of Early Care and Education for Three and Four Year Olds

An integrated system of high-quality early care and education would give children access to high-quality programs. Regardless of the setting their parents chose, three- and four-year-old children of all incomes and cultures would learn and play together in rooms where the teachers have bachelor’s degrees in early childhood education and are paid on the same salary scale as teachers in the local K-12 school district. A range of health and family support services would be available to those children who need them. Well-coordinated, smooth transitions would occur as children enter and graduate from these programs. Resources would be available to serve all children in the setting that best meets the needs of their families, such as full-day, full-year programs for working families. More>> [PDF, 288KB]