Take Action!
You can help to maximize our impact and reach. Just one email, phone call, or conversation can potentially pave the way for new and innovative ways to reach more children and communities. Below are three easy ways that you can help advocate for early childhood education.
Reach Out to Your Elected Representatives*
Be heard! Email, tweet at, call, or meet with local and state government officials and urge them to invest in high-quality early education and care, including appropriate early educator training and compensation. View Jumpstart’s Advocacy 101 Brief (PDF, 31. MB) to learn about how you can quickly and easily advocate for issues important to you, including:
- Supporting wage increases for early educators through local funding initiatives and state investment to encourage highly-qualified teachers to remain in preschool classrooms.
- Increasing funding for Federal Work-Study so that more college students with financial needs can participate in meaningful programs that help them build important skills while benefiting the community.
- Increasing funding for AmeriCorps and Foster Grandparents, two important programs operated by the Corporation for National and Community Service that support organizations like Jumpstart to engage community members in service.
Inform Family & Friends
Spread the word! You can make an impact by educating friends and family about the important work Jumpstart is doing in the early education field. Raising awareness is critical, and hopefully, they will join in supporting our efforts to make high-quality early education programs more accessible to teachers, families, and children. Every voice is unique and equally important. By encouraging your networks to speak up and show their support for early education, we can continue to raise awareness and expand our reach across the country.
Participate in Jumpstart’s Read for the Record®
Get involved! Jumpstart’s Read for the Record® was launched over a decade ago to bring much needed attention to the importance of early literacy. Each year on Read for the Record day, over 2 million people gather in large cities, small towns, and everywhere in between for the world’s largest shared reading experience on a single day. Click here to learn more about how you can get your community involved.
*Jumpstart is a non-partisan, non-profit organization. To comply with the laws regarding 501(c)(3) organizations as well as AmeriCorps regulations, Jumpstart Corps members and staff whose positions are funded in whole, in part, or as match for AmeriCorps grants may not participate in any partisan or seemingly partisan activities during work time charged to an AmeriCorps grant or while earning service hours. Prohibited activities include, but are not limited to: Participating in, or endorsing, events or activities that are likely to include advocacy for or against political parties, political platforms, political candidates, proposed legislation, or elected officials. Jumpstart staff and Corps members may exercise their rights as private citizens and may participate in advocacy, partisan, and campaign activity on their own initiative, using their own personal time, and with their own resources (e.g., personal computers, phones, and email accounts). Individuals are also prohibited from wearing the AmeriCorps logo while participating in any advocacy activities.
For more information, please see the detailed guidance and frequently asked questions provided by AmeriCorps concerning restrictions on legislative lobbying and partisan political activity.
For more information and frequently asked questions, please click here to review a detailed memorandum recently issued by CNCS reminding programs of the various restrictions on legislative lobbying and partisan political activity.
