Legislative Agenda Application Deadline – Sept. 23 The deadline for submission of proposals for the Alliance’s 2021 Legislative Agenda is Thursday, September 23 at 4:30 pm. The Alliance's annual Legislative Agenda is crafted in partnership with organizations advocating for state-level policy changes to improve the lives of young children and families. The Legislative Agenda typically features a broad range of health, safety, food security, economic security, and early care and education initiatives supported by Alliance members. Inclusion on the Alliance’s Legislative Agenda comes with many benefits, including: - Advocacy, communications, outreach, strategy, and other assistance from Alliance staff;
- Increased issue visibility, including a feature at the Early Childhood Day at the Legislature; and
- Support from the Alliance’s coalition of early childhood community members.
Visit the Alliance website for more information and to download the application documents. For further assistance, contact Matt Levin, Alliance Executive Director, at 802-229-4281 or matt@vecaa.org. | |
| Rooting Out Racism: An Anti-Racism Training for Those Working with Agriculture and Land The Farm Based Education Network (FBEN) is hosting a multi-day anti-racism training designed specifically for people working on and with the land and people connected to farming and education beginning on October 4. This training will be facilitated by Service to Justice, a collective of social service providers, advocates, community members, artists, organizers, and justice-oriented institutions who recognize that the social service industry often perpetuates the current arrangement of power that maintains systemic poverty and structural racism. Click here for more information and to register. FBEN is helping to subsidize the cost of this training. | | | American Rescue Plan/Federal Funds Listening Tour Continues Legislative leaders continue to seek input to inform their decisions on how to spend the unallocated federal funds from the American Rescue Plan (ARPA). Thanks to federal stimulus funds, a surge in state revenues, and more potential federal funds on the way, the Vermont Legislature is positioned to make large one-time investments in Vermont's pandemic recovery and to address critical infrastructure needs. Public input will help shape the decisions about how to allocate those funds. The “Investing in Vermont’s Future Community” conversations are taking place regionally, and an online questionnaire has been created to include voices not typically heard in the legislative process. All the events are virtual. The first events took place last week. The next one is set for Sept. 28, with others scheduled throughout October. Click here to register for the event in your community. You can fill out the online questionnaire here. If you are interested in helping set up a conversation with a community or group not typically heard in the legislative process, please reach out to cwesley@leg.state.vt.us or ckennedy@leg.state.vt.us. | | | | VTAEYC Fall Conference Begins Sept. 29 Registration is now open for the Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children (VTAEYC) Fall Conference. This year’s online format features three separate sessions, spread out over a six week period. Each session of the conference will include an evening plenary session and a follow up workshop session offered twice the next day. All sessions are eligible for professional development hours, approved by Northern Lights at CCV. Click here for more information and to register. Students living and working in Vermont may attend the conference for free, click here to apply for a conference scholarship. | | | | |