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Rebuilding Child Care for a More Equitable Future in the Midst of COVID-19
by Brandy Lawrence, Emily Sharrock, and Joe Waters
Capita and the Bank Street College of Education are two organizations tied together by a singular commitment to the flourishing of children and families now and for future generations. We recognize that structural racism creates systems with often insurmountable barriers for working, low-income, and Black and brown families and children — inequalities that are evident in the care of our youngest children.
Neuroscience tells us that brains grow explosively in the first 1,000 days of life, developing more than one million neural connections a second. Studies have shown that the developmentally meaningful interactions present in quality early care and education are critical to ameliorating the stark inequalities in kindergarten readiness. Yet the same racial disparities that we see in high school graduation rates and college enrollment are visible in children as young as 9 months and grow larger by 24 months. Similarly, research indicates that stark racial and gender disparities exist in expulsion and suspension practices at an early age, with young Black boys composing 18% of preschool enrollment, but 48% of preschoolers suspended, further compounding their development. And yet, our failure to adequately invest…
