Dear Future President of the United States,

I would first like to congratulate you on winning the election. I know you are going to do great things for this country but, I have something that I believe should be on the top of our priority list. The importance of early childhood education is something that cannot be taken lightly. In this letter I am hoping to express my concerns within the early education systems that America is dealing with today.

One of the biggest challenges confronting teachers today is serving an increasing number of culturally and linguistically diverse children and providing the appropriate education and care while working effectively with their families. Despite numerous efforts in the schools, support from many school administrators, and changes in teacher education, the majority of classroom teachers still do not believe that they are well-equipped to meet the needs of students and families from diverse backgrounds (Wang). Diversity is conventionally associated with minority groups categorized by ethnicity, race, and/or language. Thinking of how diverse the United States is it is to no surprise that schools are diverse as well. In order to be able to work with the diversity of today's youth, the educators need to be willing to work with the children and be trained in this area.

Experts know that effective teachers are central to quality early care and education. It is no surprise, then, that many quality improvement efforts have focused on increasing education requirements for teachers and reinforce access to professional development and training. Children’s learning and development is supported by thoughtful instruction and warm, engaging interactions. It takes a skilled and effective workforce to provide the level of instruction necessary to promote positive outcomes including social skills and early literacy and numeracy skills but the United States continues to pay most early childhood educators embarrassingly low wages. Preschool teachers and child care workers rank in the bottom 20th percentile for mean annual salaries. In addition, many teachers lack access to important benefits such as health insurance and paid leave (Underpaid and Unequal).

Early care and education is a necessity in today’s society, as families increasingly include dual earners or a single working parent. Efforts to improve the quality of early childhood programs without addressing teachers’ low wages and stressful working conditions are unlikely to bring about the long-term benefits teachers deserve (Underpaid and Unequal). The diversity in classrooms is an issue that also needs to be addressed because otherwise diverse students are not going to grow with their learning abilities. Early Childhood education is a very important part of children’s lives and it needs to be at its finest. I hope that by telling you my view on this issue you will take it into consideration and try to make a difference in the lives of children all across America. Thank you for taking the time to read my letter of concern. I hope the next four years are full of improvement. I’m sure you’ll do a great job as the nation's leader.

Respectfully yours,

Kayla, Student

                                                                             Work Cited

By Rebecca Ullrich, Katie Hamm, Rachel Herzfeldt-Kamprath | Friday, August 26, 2016. "Underpaid and Unequal." Name. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Oct. 2016.

Wang, X. Christine, and Jerry Aldridge. "Re-examining diversity issues in childhood education: an introduction." Childhood Education 83.5 (2007): 258+. Child Development. Web. 3 Oct. 2016.