Broad-based coalition thanks governor, early childhood funding commission; pledges further commitment to implementation of multi-year plans for making illinois “best state in nation for families raising young children”
Today, our Early Childhood Funding Coalition — with membership from a broad array of sectors and communities, statewide — thanks Governor Pritzker and the bipartisan Illinois Commission on Equitable Early Childhood Education and Care Funding for releasing its comprehensive report
on the future of our state’s early care and education system. We applaud the Commission’s goal, set by the Governor, that “Illinois will become the best state in the nation for families raising young children, with the nation’s best early childhood education and child care.” We now urge state policymakers and leaders to heed the recommendations laid out in the report, using them as a roadmap for how to make that goal a reality.
We pledge our continued partnership to reach this intended destination together. Ultimately, this journey will benefit not only children from birth to age 5, but their families, communities, and our entire state. We are committed to helping shift from study to practice, from deliberation to implementation, without delay.
The Commission spent more than a year studying Illinois’ system of early childhood services, its underlying strengths and longstanding challenges, as well as gathering lessons from other states. Along the way, our Coalition helped shape and inform these discussions, guided by our own principles for improving programs’ funding adequacy, equity, transparency and governance. Our members have varied experiences and rich perspectives, and we look forward to putting these to good use in supporting implementation efforts in the months and years ahead.
We welcome this implementation challenge and opportunity, just as we welcome the Commission’s report, which establishes plans to ensure stronger funding of preschool, child care and critical birth-to-3 services — recommendations that aim to reflect concrete needs and actual costs more realistically, reach all young children whose parents want such help, and do so with equity as our guiding star.
These recommendations envision a better system of early childhood care and education — one that expands access and opportunity to children and families by providing a better delivery of programs’ funding, as well as more effective and efficient program governance with a single state-agency focus that can better target our resources and attention to the needs of Illinois’ youngest learners. Greater support of the state’s dedicated early childhood educators and caregivers is a key aim, understanding that this is vital to equity and quality — and reflecting the COVID-19 pandemic’s reminder that the early care and education workforce supports all other business sectors.
The pandemic has challenged our state, and we have responded with strength. Now the work to implement these recommendations begins. We know the work ahead will be long and arduous, and limited resources will be a challenge. But we move forward knowing the value and gravity
of our goal: so that all children can thrive, we must invest in and create the nation’s best early care and education system.
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The Early Childhood Funding Coalition is a group of advocates, non-profit organizations, child care providers, school districts, parents and others who have come together to fight for the well-being of Illinois’ youngest children. We seek adequate, equitable, sustainable, reliable funding for children’s services from birth through age 5. We want to ensure all children can access quality education and care, as their parents choose. We want resources to be invested in the children and communities that need it most, in order to eliminate racial, socio-economic, and other disparities. We are working together to make sure that ALL families and early childhood providers have the resources they need to help children succeed.
The Illinois Early Childhood Funding Coalition consists of 90 organizations (listed below) and over 100 individuals.
A Child’s Place Early Learning Centers
A Step Ahead Daycare Inc.
Ada S. McKinley
Advance Illinois
Advance Preschool, Inc.
Alignment Rockford
Asian Human Services
Association of Illinois Montessori Schools
Baby TALK, Inc.
Base Child Care
Berwyn South D100
Carole Robertson Center for Learning
CCSD62
Centers for New Horizons
Circle Root Collaborative
Chicago Dia de los Niños
Chicago Public Schools
Children’s Home & Aid
Children’s Playhouse
Circles of Learning
Community Organizing & Family Issues
Collaboration for Early Childhood
CPPC City Parent Policy Committee/ Community Representative/Executive Committee Cuddle Care
CUSD 303 Early Childhood
Dolton Riverdale School District 148
El Hogar del Nino
Equitable Perspective
Ericka Okuneva
Erikson Institute
Erie Neighborhood House
Eyes On The Future Child Development Center
Faith Coalition
Family Focus
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids – Illinois
For Your Child Preschool
Good Shepherd Institute Family Childcare
GROW Developing Childcare Professionals, Inc. Happy Bear Child Development Center
Harry S. Truman College
Hathaway Miranda LLC
Harlem Community Center
HCC Hand-n-Hand Child Care Center
Illinois Developmental Therapy Association
IFF (formerly the Illinois Facilities Fund)
Illinois for Education Equity
Illinois Action for Children
Illinois Association for the Education of the Young Children Illinois Early Intervention Coalition
Illinois Head Start Association
Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies Illinois Valley Community College
Kiddos Care
Kids Above All
Kingdom Academy learning center
Kohl Children’s Museum
Latino Policy Forum
LINK Unlimited Scholars
Little Leaders Academy
Little Scouts
Marillac St. Vincent Family Services
McLean County Unit District 5
Mission: Readiness – Illinois
Mosaic Early Childhood
National Louis University
Nurse-Family Partnership
Oak Park and River Forest Day Nursery
Oakton Community College Early Childhood Education Center Okkin
One Hope United
Open Space Early Learning Center
OptimizeMyOrg
Ounce of Prevention Fund
Our Leaders of Tomorrow
Palma Wilderman
Prevent Child Abuse Illinois
ReadyNation – Illinois
Rockford Day Nursery
SAL Family and Community Services
St. Paul Christian Day Care and Kindergarten
Start Early
Teach Plus Illinois
The Center: Early Childhood Professional Learning
The Chicago Urban League
The Children’s Center of Cicero-Berwyn
TJs Tiny Town
Under Carrey’s Care Corp
Voices for Illinois Children – Powered by YWCA Metropolitan Chicago We Are The World Home Day Care
YMCA Metropolitan Chicago
