Introduction
In 2022, New Mexico voters passed a constitutional amendment that made their state the first to guarantee a right to early childhood education while directing substantial, steady funding to child care and early education. Organizers in the Land of Enchantment (OLÉ), a non-profit, grassroots member organization of working families, had been at the forefront of this fight. Yet, early childhood educators of color, particularly Spanish-speaking immigrant women, continued to earn less than their White counterparts. OLÉ wanted to ensure policy implementation incorporated the voices and priorities of Spanish-speaking immigrant women, who comprised much of the early childhood education workforce. So, they started providing interpretation at all meetings and having one-on-one conversations with Spanish-speaking immigrant parents (Perez, 2023). They staff developed a statement they began reading at every meeting—including meetings where the majority spoke English—stating how people of color and immigrants were essential members of their base. Over time, Spanish-speaking immigrant parents became more empowered. OLÉ and its allies succeeded in getting the legislature to reimburse organizations for providing interpretation during legislative hearings. A parent leader said, “I don’t speak English yet, but I’m not afraid to stand wherever and represent my community and the needs of the families here.”
In Washington State, parent leaders trained as “Parent Ambassadors” with the state’s Head Start Association set out to work alongside staff to deepen the organization’s racial equity work. Fighting for more affordable, high-quality early childhood education required a multilingual, multiracial coalition of parents from rural, suburban, and urban areas across the state. But, building solidarity is challenging; some parents routinely experienced racism firsthand, while others had grown up in towns with no people of color. Through respectful and open dialogue, parent leaders shared their stories and began understanding one another’s perspectives. With racial equity as the core focus, they surveyed and interviewed other parents and revamped the organization’s mission, vision, and application process (Perry & Geller, 2023). Parent leaders saw a direct link between racial equity within the organization and racially equitable policy. A parent leader said, “[Racial equity] starts with us because then we can bring [our racial equity agenda] before legislators to affirm, ‘Hey, racial equity is important and it matters.’” They believed they were setting the “example for change that is needed, both on a state and a federal level.” Parent leaders also felt more equipped to hold conversations about racism in their local communities. One parent said, “I got the tools to go out in the community to disrupt racism. I can say what you said is harmful to others, when you say it, it hurts people.”
Across the country in Monroe County, New York, a small group of parent leaders and staff connected with the Greater Rochester Parent Leadership Training Institute, were concerned about the lack of teacher diversity across the many school districts in their county. The team approached other families wherever they could find them to share data and listen /to how the lack of teacher diversity affected their children (Perez, 2023). They built alliances with other parent organizations and school districts, ultimately leading one district to invite parents onto their teacher and principal hiring committees. They worked with a local teacher preparation university to create a club to get middle school students excited about the teaching profession. As they worked tirelessly on this issue, more parents joined their cause. The group is now part of a regional equity network, and uplifts parent voice on other key equity issues.
And down south in Mississippi, another group of concerned parents worked to drive a more just educational system. Parents and staff with the organization, Parents for Public Schools, set out to design “civic academies,” to provide families with the tools to identify educational inequities, how they form, and how they can be dismantled (Perry, 2023). They organized focus groups throughout the state, asking other parents about the racial diversity of staff and leadership, cultural sensitivity, and racial disparities in curriculum, discipline policies, and course offerings. Importantly, they ended each conversation by talking about the action steps parents would like to take. The focus groups opened the team’s eyes to how families and children experienced inequity in their schools and how they hoped to build more equitable systems.