Greetings,

Send a message to Governor Gregoire: No Cuts to the Career and Wage Ladder or to Other Early Childhood Education Programs!

Our state's governor has asked each department to prepare budgets that assume increased cuts.  The Department of Early Learning has already said they will recommend cutting the state's contribution to the Early Childhood Education Career and Wage Ladder as a part of their package of cuts. As child care and early learning professionals, we believe the Career and Wage Ladder, a nationally-recognized model, is a critical component to a quality child care system. 

We must get our message to the governor quickly: This is not the time to undermine our children by cutting programs clearly proven to improve the quality of their early learning and care experience, especially now that our nation is in crisis.

If you own or direct a center currently on the Ladder, let the governor know what a difference it makes in your ability to provide quality care, to pay the teachers, and to encourage continued education, as well as increase the morale and stability of your center.

If you work at a center that wants to participate in the Ladder, tell the governor not to cut this program and in fact, let her know it should be expanded! 

Our message needs to be loud and clear: no cuts to funding for early learning -- we already don't have what we need!

It is critical in this time of stress to continue to support programs that promote stability for young children and their families. Please contact Governor Gregoire today and tell her not to cut funding for the Career and Wage Ladder or other early childhood education programs. It's the right thing for her to do. 

Subject: No Cuts to the Career and Wage Ladder or to Other Early Childhood Education Budgets!

Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],

The DEL is proposing eliminating the funding of the research-proven, successful Career and Wage Ladder for early learning professionals. The most important component of high-quality child care is the quality and consistency of the provider. The Ladder gets to the root of this by encouraging teachers to increase their own education and stay in the field. Research from WSU and anecdotes from the field show this to be true.

All children benefit when their teachers have access to professional training and adequate compensation for their important work. Providing quality care in early learning is important for the future of this state in terms of our economy and raising our future citizens. Seventy child care centers across the state -- 7,000 children and 1,000 professionals -- will lose the critical support they need in order to stay in the early education field if the Career and Wage Ladder is cut from the state budget.

I ask you to not to cut funding for the Career and Wage Ladder or any other early childhood education program in the state budget. This is not the time to undermine our children by cutting programs clearly proven to improve the quality of their early learning and care experience, especially now that our nation is in crisis.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]