On May 10 and 11, Early Childhood Education Organizing Project Director Sandra Weese represented the California Federation of Teachers (CFT) as part of a California delegation to visit birth to third programs in Montgomery County, Maryland. The CFT was invited to be a part of this delegation because of our union’s commitment to high quality education, including early childhood.

The Government Action and Communication Institute (GACI) in collaboration with Preschool California, several county superintendents of education, and the Bay Area Council invited a high-level, bipartisan delegation to visit and experience the model system of early education and early elementary programs in Montgomery County, Maryland. In addition, the two-day tour included discussions with policy leaders and education experts in Washington, D.C. like Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senator Dianne Feinstein and Representative George Miller.

Photo: Sandra Weese, Early Childhood Education Organizing Project Director, with the California delegation outside of the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

The two day educational tour provided ideas and approaches for bringing more federal support to California and for improving the quality of our early education programs. The overreaching goals for the trip were to see model programs, nurture a leadership team, and engage California leaders in national and state policy discussions.

To achieve these goals, the delegation included California policy makers like State Senator Carol Liu, early learning experts, key businesses and coalition leaders, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. During our two-day session, the delegation:

• Learned from Montgomery County, Maryland’s birth to third program, including meeting with Dr. Jerry Weast, Montgomery County’s school superintendent;
• Met in Washington, D.C. with policy experts from within Congress and the White House; and
• Built relationships and an agenda among the California delegation for furthering our early education goals in 2011 and beyond.