SOE Talking Points – 2026 ECCE Commission Meeting 1 (July 7, 2026)

Welcome to the first meeting of the ECCE Commission for 2026!

• To returning members—we appreciate your ongoing service and dedication to Virginia’s ECCE system.
• To newly appointed members—we are excited to have you as part of the Commission, and are looking forward to this work together.
• Let’s extend a special welcome to one of our new members, Susanne Bell – VECF’s new president as of July 1 following the retirement of Kathy Glazer, who led VECF as president since 2012.
  • As VECF president, Susanne builds a strategic focus on the school readiness and development of Virginia’s youngest learners.
  • She comes to us from the Danville Regional Foundation, where she advised and cultivated education and workforce investments.
  • With a master’s degree in public policy from Johns Hopkins University and another graduate degree in the works from University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, Susanne’s career has spanned an impressive range of work: she has spent time on Capitol Hill, within higher education, and in education policy consulting.

Before moving to our first item of business of appointing new leadership, I want to take a moment to recognize the important work we are embarking on over the next several months.

• This body will be instrumental in generating recommendations for our governor in this high priority area: early childhood.
  • The first five years of children’s lives are foundational for future learning and development—a period of time when the brain is making more neural connections than in any other throughout the lifespan.
  • Warm, responsive interactions with stable caregivers are crucial for that brain-building; those interactions and relationships make children feel safe, curious, and ready to learn.
  • And while parents are children’s first and most important teachers, more than ¾ of all young children have all available parents in the workforce.
  • This makes high-quality early childhood care and education opportunities vital for children, families, and our communities.
• Over the last 8 years, Virginia has built a nationally-recognized early childhood care and education system, rooted in continuous quality improvement, data-driven decision-making, and expanding access based on what families need and prefer.
  • Since 2018, enrollment in all publicly-funded early childhood programs has more than doubled – it has increased by 125%.
  • More private child care centers and family day homes are serving children with public funds than ever.
  • And at the same time, we have unprecedented insight into the classrooms where these children are served.
    • Every single classroom serving children participating in public programs is directly observed twice each year – that’s over 31,000 observations completed this year alone.
    • These observations and the data they generate help us ensure that children’s experiences, regardless of setting, are high-quality.
  • State investments in early childhood programs have nearly quadrupled since 2018, reflecting Virginia’s recent track record of strong and growing appreciation for the role the ECCE system plays, not only in setting kids up for success but also strengthening families and our broader community/economy.
• The data are very clear: Virginia’s ECCE investments are paying off:
  • Statewide kindergarten readiness rose from 51% in Fall 2024 to 57% in Fall 2025.
    • These gains were greatest in literacy, where we saw an increase of 8 percentage points.
    • Gains were also meaningful for groups of children often considered at-risk or underserved – students in low-income households, as well as Black, Latino, and multilingual students.
  • This tells us that the Virginia way is working, and our system has the potential to promote real, meaningful impacts for all kids and families.
• But there is still work to be done.
  • Despite major state investments in recent years, current funding levels fall short of supporting all families who need it.
  • The ever-increasing cost of child care is straining too many household budgets, and forcing parents to make trade-offs between quality and affordability.
  • Some are opting out of the workforce altogether because child care is simply inaccessible.
  • At the same time, child care educators—the workforce that underpins our broader economy—earn an average of around $20 per hour – those in publicly funded sites earn less, about $17–18 per hour; and these educators are turning over at a rate unparalleled in other industries.
  • High rates of stress and turnover in early childhood classrooms undermine children’s learning.
• Our children, families, and educators deserve more.
• Governor Spanberger is committed to putting affordable, high-quality child care within reach for all Virginians, without compromising on competitive compensation for our early educators.
• The Governor will be relying on this body to provide recommendations for the financing of our nation-leading system to realize this goal.
• And I am excited to be a part of the work ahead with each of you.
• But first, electing Commission leadership…