Five Core Principles to Guide Policy
Our five core principles reflect foundational beliefs about what makes ECE a worthwhile investment of public dollars. Grounded in experience and values, these five principles — targeting support where it's needed most, putting families first, strengthening markets, empowering communities, and focusing on results — shape every recommendation on this site.
Starting with clear principles provides policymakers with a coherent foundation for decision making — to guide effective policy design and ensure that public funding for ECE is money well spent.
1. Target Support Where It's Needed Most
Focus public investment on families who can't access quality programs on their own.
Smart policy focuses public assistance on families who can't access quality programs on their own. Higher-income parents already have choices — they may prefer to spend less, but they can afford quality when it matters. Lower-income parents can't.
The families least able to afford quality programs benefit most from targeted support. When parents lack access to quality ECE, the economic damage cascades: they reduce work hours or leave the workforce entirely, businesses lose productive employees, and welfare costs rise. Targeting support converts these parents into empowered consumers who strengthen the entire market through their purchasing power.
By focusing resources on those with the greatest need, states transform lives and strengthen their workforce without creating new government dependencies. This approach delivers measurable impact — reducing child poverty, increasing workforce participation, and strengthening family self-sufficiency. Universal entitlements waste taxpayer money on families who don't need help.
When public dollars focus on genuine need, every dollar works harder — expanding access, driving quality through competition, and building stronger state economies.
2. Put Families First
Empower parents — not top-down policies — to choose what’s best for their child.
Parents, not bureaucracies, should decide what's best for their children. Effective ECE policy trusts parents to make the right decisions when empowered with real choices and reliable information.
Yet too often, government programs substitute regulatory compliance for parent judgment, funding programs instead of families. When public dollars fund programs, government — not families — decides what quality looks like. When funds flow directly to families, parents make confident choices about their children's care.
A families-first approach respects that different families have different values and needs. It fosters a diverse marketplace where providers must compete to earn parents' trust. This drives quality improvement through competition, not bureaucratic checklists. Programs reflect community values and family needs, not one-size-fits-all mandates. Parents gain dignity through choice while children benefit from care that truly fits.
Markets thrive when consumers have power — and in ECE, those consumers should be parents.
2. Put Families First
Empower parents — not top-down policies — to choose what’s best for their child.
Parents, not bureaucracies, should decide what's best for their children. Effective ECE policy trusts parents to make the right decisions when empowered with real choices and reliable information.
Yet too often, government programs substitute regulatory compliance for parent judgment, funding programs instead of families. When public dollars fund programs, government — not families — decides what quality looks like. When funds flow directly to families, parents make confident choices about their children's care.
A families-first approach respects that different families have different values and needs. It fosters a diverse marketplace where providers must compete to earn parents' trust. This drives quality improvement through competition, not bureaucratic checklists. Programs reflect community values and family needs, not one-size-fits-all mandates. Parents gain dignity through choice while children benefit from care that truly fits.
Markets thrive when consumers have power — and in ECE, those consumers should be parents.
2. Put Families First
Empower parents — not top-down policies — to choose what’s best for their child.
Parents, not bureaucracies, should decide what's best for their children. Effective ECE policy trusts parents to make the right decisions when empowered with real choices and reliable information.
Yet too often, government programs substitute regulatory compliance for parent judgment, funding programs instead of families. When public dollars fund programs, government — not families — decides what quality looks like. When funds flow directly to families, parents make confident choices about their children's care.
A families-first approach respects that different families have different values and needs. It fosters a diverse marketplace where providers must compete to earn parents' trust. This drives quality improvement through competition, not bureaucratic checklists. Programs reflect community values and family needs, not one-size-fits-all mandates. Parents gain dignity through choice while children benefit from care that truly fits.
Markets thrive when consumers have power — and in ECE, those consumers should be parents.
2. Put Families First
Empower parents — not top-down policies — to choose what’s best for their child.
Parents, not bureaucracies, should decide what's best for their children. Effective ECE policy trusts parents to make the right decisions when empowered with real choices and reliable information.
Yet too often, government programs substitute regulatory compliance for parent judgment, funding programs instead of families. When public dollars fund programs, government — not families — decides what quality looks like. When funds flow directly to families, parents make confident choices about their children's care.
A families-first approach respects that different families have different values and needs. It fosters a diverse marketplace where providers must compete to earn parents' trust. This drives quality improvement through competition, not bureaucratic checklists. Programs reflect community values and family needs, not one-size-fits-all mandates. Parents gain dignity through choice while children benefit from care that truly fits.
Markets thrive when consumers have power — and in ECE, those consumers should be parents.
Related pages: Policy Priorities · Key Policy Goals · Policy Framework
