By Janet McLaughlin
Editor’s note: This commentary is by Janet McLaughlin of Burlington, executive director of the Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children.
Just before the calendar flipped to 2022, thousands of Vermont families with school-age children picked up free Covid rapid tests to ensure as safe a return to school as possible.
But for thousands more families, tests were not offered. There was no test giveaway for children under 5.
The only population age bracket ineligible for vaccinations is children under 5 — from birth to age 4. These infants, toddlers and preschoolers are enrolled in early childhood education programs throughout our state. As a society, we rely on these programs to stay open — both so that children have access to experiences that support early learning and so parents can go to work.
But when Vermont planned for a safe return to school, this entire cohort was left out.
This oversight reveals a persistent assumption: that early childhood education is not as critical as K-12 education. That assumption is wrong. Our youngest children need safe access just as much as older children.
Early childhood education is essential. Through exploration and play arranged by skilled teachers, children learn self-regulation, teamwork, cause-and-effect, motor skills, and hundreds of skills older children and adults are expected to use fluently and constantly. Without safe access, children lose opportunities to develop age-appropriate social behavior and critical thinking. Ask any parent of a young child whose program closed due to Covid or the early childhood education staffing crisis. The impacts are both immediate and long-lasting.
This moment is a pivotal learning opportunity. When early childhood educators, families and advocates pointed out the inequity in test availability, Vermont responded. A week later, the state announced a new “Test for Tots” program to provide rapid tests for early childhood education programs.
It matters that our state is responsive. Vermont state leaders are increasingly aware that the needs of young children, their families, and their early childhood education programs have been an afterthought for far too long.
But we can’t just play defense. We uncover systemic problems every day in our ongoing work to advance equity and excellence in early childhood education. Systemic problems cause harm on a daily basis, and eventually create crises.
So, let’s put things in their proper order. Vermont has the responsibility this legislative session to advance work toward lasting funding and equity in early childhood education, making it affordable and accessible for all Vermont families, and making it a realistic career choice for the skilled educators who are called to this important, rewarding, and — for now — poorly paid work.
Vermont’s young children began 2022 overlooked. By 2023, I hope Vermont recognizes our young children and the people who care for them as valued, and essential, in our communities.
