AFT logo (reads AFT: Education, Healthcare, Public Services)
AFT Resolution

CREDENTIALING FOR CHILDREN'S CENTER AND EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHERS

WHEREAS, the importance of educating young children has been well established (see Bloom, Hess, Piaget, et al); and

WHEREAS, it is likewise well known that a 4-year college education plus a fifth year of postgraduate work in early childhood education makes a person a better teacher than someone with less education and training than this (see Seefeldt, Prescott, et al):

RESOLVED, that the AFT oppose any attempts to reduce the minimum qualifications for a children's center and early childhood teacher to a Child Development Associate "credential or some similar on-the-job training;" and

RESOLVED, that AFT support and introduce legislation to require the same credentialing standards for children's center and early childhood teachers as for elementary and secondary teachers.

(1978)

Please note that a newer resolution, or portion of a resolution, may have superseded an earlier resolution on the same subject. As a result, with the exception of resolutions adopted at our most recent AFT convention, resolutions do not necessarily reflect current AFT policies.