Early Childhood and Economic Development in Wisconsin

Tool Kit

You've seen the evidence, now is the time to activate local leaders and communities to strategically design efforts that will advance and activate business leaders and community leaders in your community around this issue. Following are examples of how you can become involved.  Hard copies of the tool kit are also available. 

• Learn more about the research supporting the tie between economic development.  Learn about Wisconsin events that have featured national economic leaders and state business champions who understand why investing early in quality opportunities for young children is critical.
   
• Listen to Wisconsin business leaders including Michael Spector, Former President, University of Wisconsin, Board of Regents. and Former U.S. Associate Deputy Attorney General, and Craig Culver, CEO and founder, Culvers Restaurants, about why early childhood should matter to business and why they got involved. 
   
• Listen to Nobel Laureate economist, James Heckman's videotaped testimony highlighting his research on this topic.
  
  
• Find out more about states that are placing early education as a high priority in 2008 through pre[K]now - Dollars and Sense: A Review of Economic Analyses of Pre-K
  
  
• Learn about what other state business leaders have done to support early childhood through the research of the Pew Charitable Trust.
  
  
• Learn more about best practices for early learning in Wisconsin, review the Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards.
  
  
• Read the most recent Madison Capitol Times and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel endorsements of focusing on early childhood investment as one of the most viable economic development strategies.
  
  
• Learn about Minnesota Business for Early Learning (MNBEL) an alliance of over 200 businesses, sparked by local leadership of the Federal Reserve Bank, has formed  through; MNBEL has launched a tool kit School Readiness Tool Kit for Employers: Special Preview for business leaders that outlines specific steps - Ten Best Business Practices for Early Learning - a business can take to support child care in their community.
  
  
• Read about the Illinois Coalition of Early Learning, Illinois Early Learning, has catalogued early childhood research, information and resources for interested stakeholders and has business leaders spearheading their efforts.
  
  
• Review the Massachusetts Early Education for All Campaign a proactive and sustained effort to inform the business community and community leaders in advocating for early childhood programs in MA.
  
  
• Consider the Rochester, Minnesota First Steps Program that has successfully reached out to their business leaders, Chamber of Commerce, Early Childhood and community leaders to launch a community-wide effort drawing attention to this issue and developing action steps to turn energy into concrete action around building quality early learning systems.
   
• Learn about the Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities, Inc. that has named education, including early education as one of their "Power of Five" Blueprint recommendations.  "Businesses must become involved in the (education) process, as outcomes are critical to our competitive position" (Arizona Daily Star, July 22, 2007)
  
  
• Use Wisconsin's presentation expressing economic terms from an early childhood perspective (PDF) for presentations with business leaders and interested skakeholders.
  
  
• Develop messages that work using information from the Annenberg Public Policy Center - Media and the Developing Child.
  
  

Ideas for local engagement of business and community partners include:

• Write to newspapers or editorial boards about the importance of high quality early childhood education to the economy's bottom line are linked.
  
  Here are two examples of editorials by:
  1. TwinWest Chamber of Commerce in MN
  2. Idaho Business Coalition for Educational Excellence
  3. A sample editorial can be adapted for your use communicating with local papers and business journals.
      
• Recruit other business colleagues and community leaders to champion early childhood education as an issue. Here is a sample of an outreach letter to business.
  
  
• Advocate for a specific legislation that would support building quality early childhood. Read the Pre-K advocacy tool kit (Pre-K Advocates).
   
• Review the State Early Childhood Policy Network Tool Kit, "Seven Things Policy Makers Need to Know about School Readiness" developed in response to requests for basic school readiness information for new legislators. Tool kit offers key points about school readiness, summarizes evidence supporting each area, offers powerpoints on each topic and offers relevant messages or talking points relative to each of the seven topic areas.  Tool Kit sponsors and contributors include the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) and the National Governors Association.
  
  
• Sponsor a Business Roundtable on the issue such as the Milwaukee Economic Development Summit for Southeastern Wisconsin (2006 event) or the United Way St. Croix Valley luncheon for community leaders featuring Arthur Rolnick, Senior Vice President and Director of Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. 
  
  
• Tap into national or state resources to find tools that promote improving business practices for employees through a variety of mechanisms - Child Care Partnership Project Tool Kit - http://nccic.org/ccpartnerships/home.htm; Wisconsin CCR&R Network Tool Kit (1-888-713-KIDS), Think Big. Start Small. Business involvement tips, www.thinkbigstartsmall.com.
  
  

Provide local data to make your case. Sources that can be tapped include:

• Vision 20/20 Website offers information about children in Wisconsin and some county-specific data.
• Food Security Website
• Child Care Resource and Referral has data on local child care supply and demand, 1-888-713-KIDS
• WiskidsCount catalogues a number of child and family indicators by county