Early Educator Engagement and Empowerment (E4) Toolkit

Early educators are the best spokespeople about the conditions under which they work and what they need in order to thrive. Policy leaders have much to gain by actively engaging educators in identifying workable solutions to the child care crisis. The Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) believes that educators have the right to exercise power in their profession and should be able to organize and participate in the public discourse, free from interference. Through CSCCE's work and engagement with early educators over the past 23 years, they have learned that early educators need: (1) the conditions to engage in good preparation; (2) access to ongoing learning; (3) safe and supportive working environments; and (4) appropriate compensation, including a livable wage and benefits. CSCCE developed the solutions detailed in the "Early Educator Engagement and Empowerment (E4) Toolkit" based on the experiences early educators have shared and the research CSCCE has conducted. They created this toolkit to support early educators in their advocacy, power building, and engagement with stakeholders.