October 23, 2022

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Deeann Puffert

Chief Executive Officer

Child Care Aware of Washington

1011 Pacific Ave. #400

Tacoma, WA 98402

 

Dear Mrs. Puffet,

 

     My name is Patricia Coss-Maxwell, and I am writing today as a Child Care Aware of Washington staff member. Part of my job is developing, coordinating, and implementing professional development support for early learning professionals. Therefore, I am asking you to allocate funds to developing and implementing an Anti-bias Education (ABE) curriculum. In every early learning program in the State of Washington.

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     Our envision in Child Care Aware of Washington (CCA of WA) is to improve the quality of early childhood education by increasing the attention to diversity and inclusion in early learning classrooms. That would be possible if we implement Anti-Bias Education curricula in early learning and care programs in the State of Washington. It is essential because educating about diversity is a necessary and strategic task. Undoing the biases that divide us as a society is a duty shared by all. It is crucial to provide tools that facilitate work in the classrooms on discrimination, xenophobia, and racism issues, to reduce the violence of these practices in the early childhood field. Children of Color have been suspended and expelled from early childhood education programs due to the lack of Anti-Bias Education. When early childhood programs suspend or expel children, it leads to adverse effects on children's self-image, youth incarceration, family relationships, and workforce problems, among others, affecting our economy (Buell et al., 2022; Costa, 2015; Gilliam et al., 2016; Otto, 2020; Malik et al., 2017; Summers, 2014). Those expulsions are associated with a lack of anti-bias training and education (Otto, 2020). I seek support from the CCA of WA and its partners to develop and implement Anti-Bias Education curricula in all early childhood programs.

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     Can I count on your support in my effort to drastically reduce the appallingly high incidence of expulsion and suspension of children of color from early childhood education programs? I want to see the State of Washington, especially Child Care Aware of Washington, lead the State and the nation in this regard.

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      Your support will be a critical element in the decision-making process.

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Sincerely,

 

Patricia Coss-Maxwell (She/her)

Program Manager of Professional Development

1011 Pacific Ave. #400

Tacoma, WA 98402

Ph. 253.337.3204

Patricia@childcareawarewa.org

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References

 

Buell, Fidel, R., Hustedt, J. T., Kuntz, S., & Slicker, G. (2022). From time-out to expulsion: A national review of states' center-based child care licensing exclusionary discipline regulations. Children and Youth Services Review, 141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106623

Costa, F. 5 C. (2015). First 5 contra costa – en español. First 5 Contra Costa En Espanol. http://www.first5coco.org/es/tag/expulsiones-en-el-preescolar/ 

Gilliam, W. S., Maupin, A. N., Reyes, C. R., Accavitti, M., & Shic, F. (2016). Do early educators' implicit biases regarding sex and race relate to behavior expectations and recommendations of preschool expulsions and suspensions? https://www.jsums.edu/scholars/files/2017/03/Preschool-Implicit-Bias-Policy-Brief_final_9_26_276766_5379.pdf 

Otto, R. (2020). What we talk about when we talk about preschool expulsion. Children's Institute. https://childinst.org/what-we-talk-about-when-we-talk-about-preschool-expulsion/ 

Malik, R., et al., (2017). New Data reveals that 250 preschoolers are suspended or expelled every day. Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/new-data-reveal-250-preschoolers-suspended-expelled-every-day/

Summers, J. (2014). Is the deck stacked against Black boys in America? NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2014/05/30/317428231/is-the-deck-stacked-against-black-boys-in-america