Community Event Brings National Expert to Discuss the Importance of ECE

As part of their Community Engagement Series, the Community Relations – Social Development Commission (SDC) welcomed world-renowned education scholar Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings to speak at a luncheon on July 28 at the Hyatt Regency in Milwaukee. The topic was early childhood education – and why we all need to make it a priority.

SDC, a partner of Milwaukee Succeeds, is an anti-poverty organization which sees ECE as an important part of their mission. The goal of their series is to engage, empower and embolden the community in self-advocacy.

To this end, they invited Dr. Ladson-Billings as the keynote speaker of the free event, which was also livestreamed online. In addition to authoring several critically acclaimed books, Dr. Ladson-Billings served as a professor of Urban Education and a faculty affiliate in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at UW-Madison. Her research involves teachers who are successful with underrepresented students, as well as the applications of critical race theory within education.

At Thursday’s event, Dr. Ladson-Billings made the case for why ECE is vital for our society. Not only does high-quality early education thin the school to prison pipeline, she said, but it also improves our international standing and has significant benefits for the economy. It’s no wonder, then, that ECE has become a common topic of political discourse today.

Dr. George Hinton, CEO of SDC, also weighed in on the issue. “We can’t afford not to have quality early education,” he said.

SDC sees many needs and gaps within the community, which they try to fill with programming, but often it feels like a band aid, unable to properly address the root causes of the issues. And one of those root causes is the lack of access to high-quality, affordable ECE.

To back up his case, Dr. Hinton shared a personal story about his own children. As a young father, he said, he was focused on working in order to provide for his family and figured that “the rest” (like child development and education) would take care of itself. Now he knows better – and wants to make sure that Milwaukee parents do, too.

The event also featured participant engagement, as attendees answered the question “If you had all the resources you needed, what would you do to improve early learning?” Answers ranged from providing transportation, free summer programming and 24-hour access to community services to ensuring more wraparound services and prioritizing communication for both children and their parents. On a deeper level, participants mentioned strengthening the infrastructure for early educators and supporting more families and community members in providing care.

For those interested in watching – or rewatching – the event, SDC has made the full recording available here. Additionally, their upcoming 2022 Summit on Poverty will provide access to community action agencies, human services, government and educational professionals nationwide, further expanding learning, engagement and advocacy within the community. Per the theme, In Pursuit of Resilience & Self-Determination, SDC will explore new efforts and initiatives, draw attention to the structural underpinnings of poverty and examine more comprehensive efforts to respond during times of crisis. The event will take place October 25-27 both online and in-person at the Wisconsin Center.