ABSTRACT
Power to the Profession is the name of an initiative led by National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) focused on a vision that, “Each and every child, beginning at birth, has the opportunity to benefit from high-quality early childhood education, delivered by an effective, diverse, well-prepared, and well-compensated workforce”. Decision cycles 7 to 8, which focused on resources, infrastructure, and accountability, are of key importance – particularly the NAEYC’s stated intent to create a profession that “reflects the diversity of the young children it serves.” important given the intersecting trends in the United States (U.S) for increasing numbers of children to be cared for in “non-relative care” and for the country’s increasing cultural and linguistic diversity. The larger issue Nicole raised, which Kathleen Ogle did not, is that unlike US Early Childhood Education’s highly mixed funding model, the US healthcare system is comparatively well-funded but in a way that is quite unique.
