Ready Nation is an organization that works to enhance the message of business leaders that are in support of early childhood policies and programs that strengthen our economy and workforce. The organization partnered with the American Chamber of Commerce Executives to conduct a study on how business is interacting with and promoting early childhood education programs. What it found was that in almost every state, influential businesses have been voicing their support for lawmakers to enact legislation that supports early childhood policy or program initiatives.
Here’s a sample of what the study discovered:
- In all but one state, at least one local or statewide business organization took public action in the past five years to support investments in early childhood.
- A sizable majority of state chambers and business roundtables, along with nearly half of large city chambers, reported taking some form of action.
- Business organizations championed early childhood investments in a variety of ways: making it part of their policy agenda, drafting media pieces, giving legislative testimony, and supporting specific early childhood programs.
- While early education and pre-kindergarten were the most commonly supported early childhood topics, business organizations are also supporting a broader agenda, including home visiting, health and child care.
- Most business organizations surveyed framed their early childhood work as support for education, but a large number used the frame of economic or workforce development.
