WASHINGTON — Despite recent tensions following teacher layoffs, leaders from the teachers’ unions and D.C. Public Schools put aside their differences to showcase one success of the District’s education system: early childhood education programs.
Union and DCPS leaders toured pre-K classrooms on Thursday at William Patterson and Leckie elementary schools. They helped three- and four-year-olds read, build with wooden blocks and play “house.”
“I found – in just interacting with the kids at that level – it kind of gave me a picture of where it all starts,” said George Parker, Washington Teachers’ Union president.
Jackie Hines, WTU member, said excellence in early education would lead to excellence in future classrooms.
“Research says that the earlier they begin to love and appreciate learning the more natural it is for them, the more they’re inclined to continue it,” Hines said. “The reality of it is that early childhood is a foundation. If we make that strong, each year it can only get better.”
Right now every DCPS elementary school has a pre-K, preschool or a Head Start class in place. Leaders said they would continue to push for better training and more resources to strengthen and sustain these programs for Washington’s young children.