Spring has sprung in Illinois, which means the Illinois General Assembly is busy building the state’s Fiscal Year 2022 budget. Now more than ever before, the state legislature must invest in the health and sustainability of our early care and education system. The public health crisis wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the needs of families, certainly among those already lacking equitable services and opportunities. It has also brought into sharp relief the essential nature of the work performed by early childhood professionals – workers whose efforts are central to the well-being of children, families and communities.

Fortunately, we know where we need to go. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker’s Commission on Equitable Early Childhood Education and Care Funding and the Prenatal to Three Initiative offer ambitious plans for how to fund and structure our state’s system to ensure all children, birth to age 5, have access to the highest quality care. But, we need more public funding to turn these plans into action.

Time is of the essence, and this spring session presents a great opportunity for the legislature to direct additional state and federal funding to early childhood programs and its workforce.

We ask the state to:

• Increase funding for the Early Childhood Block Grant by $50 million, with a significant portion of these funds ($30 million) to be used for increased workforce compensation.
• Increase funding for the Early Intervention program by $25 million to improve provider reimbursement rates and extend services for children who turn age 3 over the summer.
• Increase funding for voluntary home visiting programs by $4 to increase wages for home visitors and to expand access to doula services.
• Invest significant state and federal funds into the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) to help providers stay in business and to increase staff compensation.

Our goal is simple: make Illinois the best place in the country for young children. Let’s get to work.

This blog post is a component of Illinois Childhood Advocacy Week, a week of full of opportunities for providers, parents and caregivers to share with their legislators that early education is essential—now more than ever as we rebuild and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more.

Trivia Answer

Photo taken April 8, 2021.  Look at those gorgeous trees!

What a silly trivia question, because, if the Legislative Building filled up with 136 Olympic-sized swimming pools, there would be more than a few problems!

I found this factoid on the Department of Enterprise Services website and it caused me to wonder – what is the impetus to measure these types of things?  If you are curious about other comparisons – the Eiffel Tower is 3.5 times the height of the Legislative Building and the approximate tons of bricks used to build the Legislative Building equals the weight of 5538 Orca whales. Tuck those away for a future trivia game and wow your family and friends with your wide array of knowledge.

My mind was on the Legislative Building because, if we were able to safely be on the Capitol Campus, lobbyists would be spending this whole week on the “3^rd Floor.”  The 3^rd Floor is the non-creative name for the literal 3^rd Floor of the Legislative Building and is the location to the main entrances to the Senate and House chambers, which are on opposite sides of each other.

During the periods of floor cutoff, the 3^rd Floor is abuzz as lobbyist aim to catch lawmakers and staff to make final pitches on bills, amendments and budget discussions (and to share gossip). In a nod to tradition, lobbyists can “send in notes” to legislators via the Sergeants to request that a legislator come out to discuss an issue. This requires a lot of patience because when you send in notes, you can wait (and wait and wait!). There is little seating provided, so it’s wise to wear comfortable shoes as the days (and nights!) are long and the marble floors are not forgiving.

With a largely virtual session, there is no 3^rd Floor activity this year.  Personally, I miss it because, while it is exhausting (and frustrating), it is also adrenaline fueling and the down time allowed me to build relationships with wonderful people working hard to advance policies for Washingtonians. Yes, I am still idealistic about this process.

A simpler time. The 3^rd Floor pre-Covid. Lots of waiting, pacing and being “on the lookout.”

This is the “Sine Die” tree, located on the east side of the Legislative Building.  Legend holds that when the tree fully blooms, it is time for the Legislature to sine die (adjourn).  The buds show progress, but we have some ways to go!

Trivia!

Why are there 42 steps leading into the north side of the Washington State Legislative Building?

Weekly Highlights

Another Calendar Cutoff – Now Back to Floor Activity. Today represents another milestone in the legislative process as we hit the cutoff for bills to pass out of the opposite chamber’s fiscal committee. This has been a stressful week for legislators, lobbyists and stakeholders alike as we anxiously await updated fiscal committee agendas to see if key bills have been scheduled for a public hearing and/or vote. It is not unusual to see bills that have seen minimal problems to date simply not be scheduled for a hearing or a vote. There are a number of reasons this can happen – availability of funding, concern over policy, or simply because there is not enough time to hear all of the active bills (legislators and staff do need to sleep a little bit!).

This lack of sleep and passion around whether bills are moving (or not) has led to increased tension this week.

The impacts of a mostly virtual session were particularly notable over the past few weeks as bills have been heard in the opposite chamber. First, many of the veteran legislators have yet to meet the newly elected legislators from the opposite chamber. When freshmen legislators were presenting their bills in the opposite chamber, we heard a lot of “I look forward to meeting you.” Second, the admonition to not introduce companion bills was felt as the bills moved to the opposite chamber. Companion bills are identical pieces of legislation that are introduced in both the Senate and the House. There are a lot of reasons to introduce companion bills, including increasing the likelihood that the desired policy will be enacted. One of the results we are seeing from the lack of companion bills is that there is sometimes little familiarity with bills once they hit the opposite chamber. This has led to the need to spend time educating members on the issues, and we are also seeing bills that sailed through one chamber running into problems in the opposite one.

After the fiscal committee later today, activity will immediately shift to floor activity again, with floor sessions expected over the next two weekends to meet the April 11th opposite floor cutoff.

Fair Start for Kids Act Advances. It appears that E2SSB 5237 will serve as the legislative vehicle for the Fair Starts for Kids Act.  E2SSB 5237 had a quick public hearing in the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday, with an approval vote later that day.  Since this was one of the few companion bills introduced, the bill’s components had been amply reviewed by both bodies. The bill now moves to the House Floor.

Start Early WA has produced an updated document summarizing the latest components of the Fair Starts for Kids Act.

Senate and House Budget Proposals Receive Attention. In the past week, the Senate and House released their respective Operating and Capital budgets. Fueled by an expected $56.6 billion in revenue for the 2021-23 biennium and significant federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), both budgets lay out a vision for meeting the needs of Washingtonians in this time of recovery from the pandemic.

Both budgets assume enactment of a 7% capital gains tax that is expected to bring in $347 million in the 2021-23 biennium (this is a lower amount because of the ramp-up for the new tax).  There are a lot of similarities in both budgets’ priorities, with large investments seen in continued pandemic recovery, child care, housing and rental assistance and K-12 education.  The House budget leaves an ending fund balance of $199 million and $1.1 billion in the Budget Stabilization Account (Rainy Day Fund) while the Senate budget leaves an ending fund balance of $179 million and $1.3 billion in the Budget Stabilization Account.

Both the Senate and House make historic investments in early learning.  Start Early WA has prepared a high-level summary of major early learning investments contained in both budgets.  Because of the strong intersection between the budget and the Fair Start for Kids Act, we will likely see House action on the Fair Start for Kids Act delayed until budget negotiations conclude so the final details can be aligned in the Fair Starts bill.

What comes next? The full Senate has passed both its Operating and Capital budgets and the House is expecting to take similar action in the next day or so.  Budget writers will then turn to resolving differences between the two approaches and the agreed-upon budget will be released toward the end of the scheduled adjournment of legislative session (April 25^th).

Trivia Answer

The 42 steps represent Washington’s admission as the 42nd state to the Union.

According to the Washington Department of Enterprise Services, the Legislative building was constructed between 1922-28, with legislators occupying the building starting in 1929. Construction of the Legislative Building cost $7.4 million and was funded by revenue raised by timber sales on state lands. The federal government gifted Washington this land upon statehood and, to this day, revenue generated by state land timber sales is dedicated to supporting buildings on the Capitol campus.

When the campus fully opens back up, I will count the steps to verify!

Late last week, the security gates around the Capitol Campus were relaxed, allowing visitors – human and animal! –  to enjoy the spring flowers.

Trivia!

Why was Governor Inslee in his Capitol office just before midnight on June 30, 2017?

Weekly Highlights

Senate and House Release Budget Proposals. On Thursday, the Senate released their Operating and Capital budget proposals. On Wednesday, the House released its Capital budget and will release their Operating budget on Friday afternoon (today).

The Senate budget clearly prioritizes early learning, with significant federal and state funding proposed to support implementation of the Fair Start for Kids Act. The Senate budget contains $509 million in federal funding for child care grants and provider reimbursement along with $312 million in the 2021-23 biennium for Fair Start for Kids investments.

Specific funded early learning policies in the Senate budgets include:

• Increasing Working Connections Child Care income eligibility to 60% of State Median Income
• Reform of the Working Connections Child Care co-payment structure to minimize the so-called “co-pay cliff”
• Increasing the reimbursement rate for Working Connections Child Care to 85^th percentile of market rate
• Increasing the reimbursement rate for ECEAP by 10% starting in the 2021-23 school year
• Increasing ECEAP slots by 500 in state fiscal year 2022 and by 400 slots in state fiscal year 2023
• Funding to expand home visiting services and provide supports to enhance data collection and support the work of local implementation agencies
• Finally, providing funding for the complex needs funds and support for Infant Early Childhood Mental Health consultation.

With both the Senate and House proposed Capital budgets, they have also signaled the priority of investing capital dollars into growing the Early Learning Facilities funds and supporting capital early learning projects via local school districts.

What are the next steps? In the next few days, the Senate and House fiscal committees will hold public hearings to get feedback about what was and was not included in the budgets. The fiscal committees, followed by the full bodies, will approve the proposals, likely with some amendments. Once this happens, the public side of the work will be paused while Senate and House budget writers work behind the scenes to negotiate the differences between the two approaches.

Start Early WA is busy analyzing the details of the complicated and complex budget proposal (and the soon to be released House Operating budget proposal) and will post more detailed summaries on the policy resources part of our website next week.

Fair Start for Kids Act Bills Both Continue to Advance. On Wednesday, the House Children, Youth and Families Committee passed E2SSB 5237 and the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Committee passed E2SHB 1213. While both bills are technically still alive, we do expect only one bill to be heard in a fiscal committee.  As of this writing, it is unclear which bill will serve as the vehicle.

Prior to advancing the bills, both committees adopted “striking” amendments (striking amendments remove the original bill language and substitute with new language).  After adoption of these striking amendments, the two bills are closely aligned on most policy issues.  The release of the Senate and House budget proposals will give us a good idea of how each body is prioritizing funding the policies in the bills.  By the end of the legislative session, we should see a policy bill with corresponding budget investments to support implementation of the final bill’s policies.

Given the interplay with the budget, the question of which bill will be the ultimate vehicle going forward and the likelihood of further amendments in an upcoming fiscal committee hearing, Start Early WA will not be updating the bill resource documents on our website to reflect the striking amendments adopted on Wednesday. Instead, we will include a fuller analysis in the April 2^nd Notes from Olympia comparing the budget proposals and bill details.

Fiscal Committee Hearing on American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). On March 19^th, the Senate Ways and Means Committee had a briefing from the Governor’s Office of Financial Management and the Governor’s Washington D.C. staff on key components of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The staff shared key highlights, emphasizing there are still a number of questions on use of funds and noted that, in some cases, state allocations for certain purposes are still being developed.

In addition to funding for specific purposes, Washington state is slated to receive $4.25 billion in “flexible funds” and local governments will receive an additional $2.6 billion. Other key investments include an estimated $404 million for emergency rental assistance as well as additional funding for broadband, behavioral health, WIC and the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP).

ARPA includes $390.6 million in child care stabilization grants. Of this amount, 90% must be sub-granted to providers by a deadline of September 30, 2021. Up to 10% of this amount can be directed to DCYF for administrative expenses, including technical assistance and public awareness.  In addition, ARPA includes a one-time $244 million increase to the Child Care and Development Block Grant which must be spent within three years.

Policy Committee Cutoff/Fiscal Cutoff Coming. A quick reminder that today is the deadline for bills out of the policy committee of the opposite house. A week from today is the deadline for bills to pass out of the fiscal committee of the opposite house. This means the next seven days will be focused on the Senate Ways and Means and House Appropriations Committees. Just like with the English language, there are always exceptions to this rule.

Early Childhood Connector Grant Opportunity. Early Childhood Connector, an online community that supports early childhood systems building, has issued a Call for Interest from community systems builders who are interested in receiving grant funds to pilot new features and capabilities of the platform to help achieve more equitable outcomes for young children, from before birth to age eight, their families, and the early childhood workforce in their community.

Start Early Washington is Hiring. Start Early Washington an energized, future-focused organization committed to providing quality early learning and care across Washington. We are recruiting individuals who want to join us in this mission and share a commitment to our core values of appreciation & respect, empowerment, diversity, excellence, learning and communication. We are hiring for a Senior Communications and Policy Manager and a ParentChild+ Program Manager.  Please help us spread the word!

Trivia Answers

The Washington state fiscal year ends each June 30^th.  If July 1^st hits and the state does not have an enacted budget in place, a chain of events that no one wants to see is set off.  Under ideal circumstances, the Legislature will pass a budget prior to adjourning sine die in April (odd-numbered years) or March (even-numbered years).  This timing gives the Governor and their staff ample time to review the budget components, prepare any necessary vetoes and sign the budget well in advance of the start of the next fiscal year.

During the intense years in the mid 2010’s when the state was working to meet its judicial mandate to fully fund basic education (the so called “McCleary decision”), the Legislature went a few years where they did not adopt a budget prior to the scheduled adjournment date, necessitating that the Governor call one (or more) special sessions to resolve issues and ultimately pass a budget.

Back to our trivia question. The 2017 budget deliberations went down to the wire with both the Senate and the House of Representatives passing the budget on June 30^th.  As you can see from the pictures below, the Governor was on hand at the Capitol that night and signed the budget just prior to midnight, July 1^st.  Crisis averted!

Since 2017, all of the budgets have passed well-before the end of the fiscal year. The jury is out if that on-time trend will continue in 2021, but I am hopeful.

Governor Inslee in the House wings observing House budget deliberations on June 30th

Success!  Governor Inslee signing the 2017-2019 biennial budget just before the stroke of midnight July 1, 2017 (See – same suit and tie as in the picture above)

Photos Courtesy Spokesman Review Archives

Trivia!

In Capitol speak, what is a “guber?” (Hint, it’s not a type of candy you can purchase at the Dome Deli)

Revenue Updates/Budget Proposals Expected Next Week

On Wednesday, the state’s Economist Dr. Stephen Lerch provided the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council with an updated revenue forecast.

On the positive side, revenue continues to outpace projections, with nearly $3.3 billion more than forecasted expected over four years. This represents a $1.34 billion increase in revenue for the current 2019-21 biennium and a $1.949 billion increase for the upcoming 2021-23 biennium. Despite plummeting revenues in 2020 following the stay-at-home order, our state is nearly back to the pre-pandemic revenue numbers that were projected in February 2020.

These projections are aided by four factors: 1) passage of a series of federal stimulus packages; 2) a faster than expected vaccine distribution process; 3) a hot real estate and construction market; and 4) strong retail sales aided by people reinvesting their stimulus checks back into the economy.

On the negative side, since the November forecast there has been slightly slower than expected employment growth; rising oil and gasoline prices; and continued weakness in business sectors such as restaurants, the arts and entertainment. Not surprisingly, the largest risk to this forecast continues to be COVID, particularly the risk associated with the virus variants.

Members of the Economic and Revenue Forecast council include the Senate Ways and Means Chair Senator Christine Rolfes and House Appropriations Chair Timm Ormsby and many of the media questions were directed at these lead budget writers. In his remarks, Representative Ormsby stressed that while this forecast is positive news, there remains great uncertainty and emphasized the economic gains are not felt by all Washingtonians. Representative Ormsby discussed his priority of getting dollars (particularly the federal stimulus funds coming to the state) into the hands of those who need the resources most.

Office of Financial Management Director David Schumacher shared that Washington is slated to receive $4.2 billion in federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (there are other buckets of funding coming to the state), including for child care and local governments. Senator Rolfes shared budget writers are still working through details of the federal package and questions remain as the state is still awaiting federal guidance on a number of spending areas. Senator Rolfes stressed the importance of staying the course and ensuring the state’s commitments can continue to be met in the long-term when these one-time funds sunset.

Senate Republican lead budget writer Senator Lynda Wilson carried her caucus’ message that with this forecast, there are ample resources to meet the state’s commitments and extend supports to families, such as funding the Working Families Tax Credit. She shared her preference that reducing taxes, including property taxes, could benefit families and the economy. House Republican council member Representative Ed Orcutt urged that the work of the Tax Structure Workgroup conclude before any new revenue is enacted.

Now that the revenue numbers are known, Senate and House budget writers will be making final tweaks to their proposed budgets. Because of the complexity with the federal ARPA dollars, budgets will be released a little later than usual this year. The Senate is slated to release its budget on March 25th with a public hearing scheduled for public comment on Friday, March 26th in Senate Ways and Means beginning at 1:00 p.m. The Senate organizes their public comment hearings by issue area, with early learning listed third in the order. Rumor is the House will release its budget on March 26th with a hearing on Saturday, March 27th.

Bill Roundup

Update on Fair Start for Kids Act Bills. Both the Senate (E2SSB 5237) and House (E2SHB 1213) versions of the Fair Start for Kids Act bills continue to advance.  E2SSB 5237 received a public hearing in the House Children, Youth and Families Committee on Thursday, March 18^th and E2SHB 1213 will be heard in the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Committee on Monday, March 22^nd with a vote scheduled on the House bill on Wednesday, March 24^th and a vote on the Senate bill on either March 24^th or 25^th. As of this writing, there has not been a decision as to which bill will serve as the final vehicle.

As a reminder, an analysis of both bills as well as a side-by-side comparison can be found on the resources page of the Start Early Washington website.

DCYF Licensing Bill Advances to House Appropriations.  On Wednesday, the House Children, Youth and Families approved SSB 5151, DCYF’s licensing bill.  The bill contains a number of provisions. In terms of early learning, the bill waives child care licensing fees until June 30, 2023 and makes the outdoor preschool pilot program permanent. The bill next moves to the House Appropriations Committee for consideration.

Capital Gains.  On Monday, the House Finance Committee held a public hearing on ESSB 5096, the Capital Gains measure. As described in previous updates, the intent is that the first $350 million raised from this new revenue source will be deposited into the Education Legacy Trust Account with a focus on supporting child care and early learning. It has not yet been scheduled for a vote.

On Deck Next Week

Senate Ways and Means Work Session on Federal Dollars. While not technically next week, the Senate Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing at 2:30 today (Friday, March 19^th) where they will receive a briefing on details of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). As noted above, at Wednesday’s Revenue Forecast Council, Senate Ways and Means Chair Senator Christine Rolfes shared there are still a lot of questions and budget writers are still working through details of the federal package, but they do plan to include as many of the federal dollars as possible in the proposed budgets that will be released next week sometime.

It’s Cutoff Time Again. Two cutoffs are quickly approaching with the opposite house policy committee cutoff on Friday, March 26^th and the opposite house fiscal committee cutoff quickly thereafter on Friday, April 2^nd. It is hard to believe we are nearly 2/3 done with this legislative session.  The last few weeks will be a flurry of final bill and budget negotiations.

Early Learning Facilities Bill to Receive Hearing. On Monday, ESHB 1370 will be heard in the Senate Ways and Means Committee. This bill would make improvements to the existing Early Learning Facilities program and rename the funds after former Representative Ruth Kagi. It is scheduled for a vote on Thursday, March 25^th.

Start Early Luncheon April 22nd

Our biggest event of the year, the Start Early Annual Luncheon, is going virtual on April 22! You are invited to join us in celebration of the transformational power of starting early through inspiring stories from families, educators, corporate leaders and early learning advocates, including Former First Lady Michelle Obama and Clinton Boyd Jr., a national leader on social equity and parent engagement. Learn more and register.

Trivia Answers

In Capitol lingo, a “guber” is the nickname for the approval process for gubernatorial appointees.

Our state’s Governor has the authority to appoint scores of people to positions ranging from directors of state agencies to specific boards and commissions. Some of these appointments require Senate approval, just like a piece of legislation. Gubernatorial appointments that require Senate confirmation start with a hearing in the appropriate policy committee, followed by a committee vote and then consideration by the full Senate. These Senate approvals are not on a set schedule and if you are following an appointment you have to stay on your toes, because the Senate will often run “gubers” with little notice when they have lulls in their floor activity (case in point detailed below).

Recently, our state’s new Director of Health, Dr. Umair Shah, had his confirmation hearing virtually in the Senate Health & Long-Term Care Committee. In his opening remarks, Dr. Shah noted he had big shoes to fill for the position following the service of the previous two Secretaries, Dr. John Wiesman and Mary Selecky.

I am fortunate to work with Mary Selecky and I asked her if she would be willing to be interviewed to talk about her confirmation process and her 14 years of service as the Secretary of the Department of Health. Mary kindly agreed and she shared wonderful stories and insights into her experience. Full disclosure – we could have talked for hours and I hung up realizing I neglected to ask ¾ of my questions, including getting her thoughts on the pandemic and other pressing public health issues.

The Path to Leading a State Agency. For 20 years, Mary served as the Administrator of the Northeast Tri-County Health District, headquartered in Colville. She loved that role and loves her community. As a Health District Administrator, she was active in state-level work (known for being the voice for rural communities), helping to establish an independent Department of Health in the 1980s.

When the Secretary of Health position became open at the state level in the late 1990s, applying for the position was not on her radar. She was eventually convinced to assume the role of Acting Secretary in 1998 while then Governor Locke continued a search for a permanent Secretary. During her time as Acting Secretary, she maintained her Administrator job, going back and forth between Olympia and Colville (a practice she would continue). She called this her “public health mission.” Six months into her role as Acting Secretary, she was persuaded to apply for the permanent role and Governor Locke formally appointed Mary to the Secretary position on the “Ides of March” in 1999.

As I mentioned above, approval of “gubers” are not always scheduled with advance notice. When Mary’s came up, she was fortunately already at the Capitol. She was kneeled down, making a budget pitch to a Senator who was seated on a couch when someone alerted her to go to the gallery to watch her confirmation.

This was before cell phones were prevalent, so Mary sat in the Senate Gallery by herself, listening to Senators’ speeches supporting her appointment. She recalled that the joke afterwards was that people took away that Mary is “a nurse, a sister and a Quaker” because of comments made by Senators speaking in support of her confirmation. Former Senator Rosa Franklin called her a sister and fellow University of Pennsylvania alum Senator Tim Sheldon made the Quaker comment (the Penn mascot).

Stay Connected and Stay Local. After Mary assumed the role of Secretary, she continued to return to Colville, although her visits switched to twice a month and she realized that Colville had become the “suitcase part of her life.” Mary said she undertook this eight-hour drive because she felt it was important to get out of the Olympia bubble and the I-5 corridor and get the grounding of being home.

Mary spoke of being in the grocery store and having a neighbor speak to her about how the area’s lead mines were impacting the groundwater, leading to lead appearing in the neighbor’s carrot crop. Not information she would naturally pick up in Olympia! These continued relationships and connections allowed her to more seamlessly transition when her time as Secretary concluded when she retired in 2013 and returned to Colville.

The Importance of Support. When Mary was first appointed Secretary of the Department of Health in 1999, there were only four female Cabinet members. When Governor Gregoire was elected in 2004, she added more women to the Cabinet. Governor Gregoire set out to build a culture where the female Cabinet members supported each other both personally and professionally. They often had dinner together at restaurants in Olympia and at times Governor Gregoire would herself join. Mary shared that at one Cabinet meeting, the female Cabinet members decided to each incorporate some form of Cheetah print into their attire. Their male colleagues did not notice and, when alerted, they responded by wearing blue dress shirts at a future Cabinet meeting.

Governor Gregoire and Secretary Mary Selecky at a press conference. Given the serious look on Governor Gregoire’s face, this may have been around the time the Seattle Times ran a three-day series “Licensed to Harm” that led to reforms of the state’s licensing of medical professionals that Mary oversaw.

It is not a surprise that Mary paid this culture of camaraderie and support forward. The current Speaker of the House Laurie Jinkins worked as Mary’s Assistant Secretary at the Department of Health. Mary was proud to sit in the gallery when Speaker Jinkins was sworn in and be introduced as a friend and mentor.

Final Reflections. Mary continues to be very active in local, regional, state and national work. She is the current chair of Empire Health Foundation in Eastern Washington, sits on two Providence boards and is very active in her Rotary. In fact, her local youth Rotary group (Interact) honored Mary in March as a local person who puts service above self. As a fellow Rotarian, I can attest that Mary exemplifies the Rotary motto.

Mary remains engaged in state activity and I suspect her phone rings a lot with people seeking her counsel. I will end with a personal story. On the day Speaker Jinkins was sworn in as Speaker, I had the pleasure of having coffee with Mary and another colleague in the infamous Dome Deli at the Capitol.  We were hardly able to finish a sentence because a never-ending line of people wanted to chat with Mary. It was like being with a Hollywood movie star!

Secretary Selecky at a school anti-smoking rally (note her shirt says “No Stank You”)

Thank you, Mary, for your continued service to Washington state and for sharing some of these amazing stories.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a destabilizing effect on preschool and infant-toddler classrooms across the country, impacted by substantial staff losses, pressure on families, safety demands and financial shortfalls. Program staff are currently under immense pressure to reimagine teaching, learning and family engagement.

When navigating unprecedented obstacles, a strong and supportive environment is critical for children and families to thrive and to ensure educator’s well-being. A strong organizational climate is the foundation for the connectivity and collaboration that staff need to feel motivated and confident, even and especially when physically distant from their colleagues.

For many years, Start Early has focused on helping the early childhood field broaden the focus of improvement efforts beyond the classroom to the organizational conditions that support staff and families. Throughout the ongoing pandemic, we’ve continued our work with programs across the country to help them strengthen their organizational conditions through The Essential 0-5 Survey — an evidence-based measurement system for program improvement. We are inspired to see programs’ continued focus on staff well-being, instructional leadership, collaboration, and continuous quality improvement.

Data collected during this pandemic through The Essential 0-5 Survey will not be an outlier. Even (and especially with!) the pressures of this unique situation, survey data point to critical patterns of organizational culture and climate. For example, if staff do not have relational trust during a crisis, these same patterns will emerge when not in crisis. In other words, patterns that emerge during this acute situation may point to chronic issues.

Now more than ever, we are witnessing how imperative it is for programs to have systems in place that foster healthy, safe and positive environments. If you’re interested in learning more, check out the research-to-practice report “Early Education Essentials: Illustrations of Strong Organizational Practices of Program Poised for Improvement”. The Essential 0-5 Survey is available online to support your program in this virtual environment. Email professionaldevelopment@StartEarly.org to get started today.