EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

WHEREAS, increasingly, parents of young children work outside the home; and

WHEREAS, recent research has conclusively demonstrated that the quality and nature of early childhood education has significant long-term impact on children's intellectual and social development; and

WHEREAS, early childhood education is most effective when conducted by trained and certified personnel; and

WHEREAS, the continuity of service to children is more consistent under the aegis of a single agency; and

WHEREAS, the advantages of early childhood education should not be limited to only the children of the wealthy and a very small percentage of the poor, thereby discriminating against the broad spectrum of America:

RESOLVED, that the AFT reaffirm its position and increase its legislative efforts to make early childhood education universally available to all children under the presumed, prime sponsorship of the public schools. (1980 resolution reaffirmed by 1984 convention)