Anyone who questions the link between quality preschooling and the AFT mission need only visit the headquarters of AFT's affiliate in Dade County, Fla. The AFT local there is home to the Satellite Learning Center, a preschool and kindergarten for 4- and 5-year-olds and the first U.S. school to be housed in a teacher union headquarters.

The United Teachers of Dade has joined Miami-Dade County Public Schools and Barry University to launch the center, which opened last year. The center also has received support from the Readiness Coalition, which comprises local groups advocating quality preschool options.

"We truly believe that all children have the right to a safe, affordable, quality education while their parents are at work," says Shirley Johnson, the union's secretary-treasurer. "And every child has the right to achieve academically regardless of income or family background. Furthermore, every child has the right to receive this quality education in a public school setting."

Occupying four rooms near the UTD auditorium, the center expects to draw more than 30 students in 2002 from both the federal Head Start program and from the children of UTD staff and district administrators. "We're looking to grow all the time," says lead teacher Kecia Smith, who reports that the center is receiving applications at the rate of about two or three a day. Ultimately, Satellite Learning will grow to encompass preK-2 as an off-site extension of a nearby public elementary school.

"We know that when we can reach students at an early age there is a great success rate" for these students to graduate from high school and ultimately achieve "greater success in the workplace," says Johnson, who recently gave AFT president Sandra Feldman a tour of the Montessori preschool. "Everything about this program has been handled with excellence. We've gotten great support from the parents and from the host school, Phyllis Miller Elementary," Johnson notes.

"We are giving something back to the community, and that's a good feeling," says UTD president Pat Tornillo, who is also an AFT vice president.

Along with utilizing the Montessori method, a key feature of the preschool is a certified, well-trained and union-represented teaching and paraprofessional staff. "I believe that children need preschool to get that extra push, [and] a well-trained staff is an essential part of that," says Smith, a UTD member who transferred from Phyllis Miller Elementary to take the lead teacher role. "It's also important to have well-compensated and represented people to show that we do work hard and make a difference."