Earlier last month, Hopkins House invited candidates running for public office in the 2021 Democratic Party primary elections for the City of Alexandria to respond to a survey on early childhood and education issues. Both mayoral and council candidates were invited and all 15 responded.
A committee, composed of Hopkins House trustees, staff, and volunteers, received the survey responses and provided a summary analysis of the extent to which the responses from individual candidates aligned with the organization’s public policy positions on early care and education in the city.
Hopkins House thanks and congratulates all candidates running for Alexandria Mayor and City Council for illustrating that early childhood education is a priority. We also recognize Canek Aguirre, Sarah Bagley, John Chapman, Alyia Gaskins, Kevin Harris, Kirk McPike, and Meronne Teklu for submitting answers that illustrated support for and understanding of all six public policy priorities championed by Hopkins House.
The summary analysis is being shared with the public and media. We encourage you to use this and other resources to educate yourself around these important public policy issues, consider which candidates most closely align with your own views around these issues, and vote in the June 8 primary election.
Read the full analysis: https://www.hopkinshouse.org/assets/1/7/2021-_Anaysis_of_Priorities_of_Alexandria_Political_Candidates.pdf
Elizabeth Partoyan
Board Secretary, on behalf of the Hopkins House Trustees
Early Childhood and Education Public Policy Priorities of Mayoral and Council Candidates Running in 2021 Alexandria City Democratic Party Primaries
While Hopkins House does not engage in partisan politics, we do however seek to educate the public about the public policy positions of candidates running for political office and the extent to which those positions align with Hopkins House’s early childhood education public policy priorities – with the goal to encourage voter participation in public elections.
Founded in 1939, Hopkins House operates education enriched preschool academies for infants and children, summer discovery camps for adolescents, and a college and career development institute for teens and adults, that help build the foundation for 21st century achievement and success in the new global economy.
Hopkins House’s mission is to provide high quality, high impact educational programs and learning opportunities to children, youth, and their families, regardless of income, to help them achieve, in measurably effective ways, their full intellectual, economic, and social potential.
Early care and education programs have been hard hit by the economic impact of the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, pandemic. As such, there has never been a more important moment for our local leaders to come together in support of the early education, safe-keeping, and well-being of the youngest members of our community.
Since the onset of the pandemic, 60% of childcare providers in Virginia have closed; some temporarily and others permanently. Families with young children face high childcare costs; those who are eligible for government childcare tuition assistance are often unaware or struggle to access those benefits; and, early childcare educators — who are most often women of color — suffer subsistence wages, long working hours, high stress, and considerable responsibility.
Public investment in childcare is critical not only to working parents and childcare professionals, but also to the economy. Alexandria cannot repair the economic wounds caused by the pandemic — and cannot build back equitably — without a thriving and stable early childhood education system. The city’s economic base depends on workers who, in turn, depend on childcare providers to keep their young children safe, learning, and developing.
This is an important moment in the life of the city, perhaps the most important moment in recent history. This is Alexandria’s chance to build a public policy foundation for a strong and robust childcare system that endures, draws employers to our city, and leads with equity.
With this in mind, Hopkins House developed a survey and invited all the candidates running in the 2021 primary for Mayor and City Council in the City of Alexandria to respond. Both mayoral candidates and all thirteen candidates for City Council responded.
The Hopkins House Public Policy & Advocacy Committee reviewed and analyzed the responses to determine how each candidate’s public policy positions align most closely with those held by Hopkins House:
● Support for increasing Alexandria’s public investment in early childhood education programs;
● Support for Alexandria’s investment in attracting and retaining high quality early care and education professionals;
● Commitment to ensuring that all children in Alexandria have access to high quality early care and education;
● An understanding of the importance of early care and education to Alexandria’s families and the city’s economy;
● An understanding of the value of a research-based early care and education curriculum; and,
● A focus on improving racial and social equity in early childhood education and throughout the educational continuum.
The fact that every candidate running for political office in the upcoming primary, along with the overall tenor of their survey responses, is clear and undeniable indication that investing in early childhood education is a shared priority of most candidates. It is the obligation of voters to hold those elected to office accountable for delivering on their promises.
Read the full analysis at https://www.hopkinshouse.org/assets/1/7/2021-_Anaysis_of_Priorities_of_Alexandria_Political_Candidates.pdf
The charts included summarize each candidate’s responses to the Hopkins House survey. Also included are response highlights. Each candidate that submitted answers that clearly illustrate support and understanding of the individual public policy issues listed above received a gold star in the table below.
We encourage you to use these tools to educate yourself around these important public policy issues, consider which candidates most closely align with your own views around these issues, and vote in the June 8 primary.
Read the full analysis: https://www.hopkinshouse.org/assets/1/7/2021-_Anaysis_of_Priorities_of_Alexandria_Political_Candidates.pdf