AFT local leader and Head Start teacher Tanya Allen appeared at a press conference on Capitol Hill Oct. 22 to urge Congress to support more funding of key education programs as the Senate considers the FY 2008 appropriations bill for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and related agencies.

Allen, president of the Paterson Early Childhood Federation of Teachers (PECFT) and a teacher at Concerned Parents for Head Start (CPHS), a Head Start agency in Paterson, N.J., told reporters that "education must remain at the top of the funding list—and this must start with adequate funding for high-quality early education programs like Head Start."  The event was sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations subcommittee.

Allen has worked at CPHS for 14 years, starting as an assistant through a training program to obtain her Child Development Associate (CDA). By attending classes and doing her school work in the evenings and on weekends, Allen in 2000 received a bachelor's degree with honors from Montclair State University and became a teacher at the center.

The AFT supports the appropriations bill, noting that some programs that have been underfunded in recent years need urgent attention. Head Start in this bill receives an increase, for example, which will counteract the significant cuts in the program in past years that has resulted in centers being unable to serve all eligible children, says the AFT.

"The $200 million in increased funding for Head Start included in the bill we are highlighting today sends a clear signal to people like me in the field that Congress understands the importance of early childhood education," said Allen.

Also appearing at the press conference was Phylecia Wilson, a cancer survivor and American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network board member.

Allen's local, which represents teachers, counselors, social workers and assistants, was formed in 2005 and recently completed bargaining its first union contract. [Jennifer Luciano, Trish Gorman/Photo Courtesy of the Office of Senate Majority Leader]

October 23, 2007