About this Book

This book challenges us to take stock of where we’ve been to figure how we might move forward. It challenges us to think, to analyze—to understand and plan—and then to take action to transform the system of care for young children in this country…The roadmap has been drawn, but it requires inspired and knowledgeable advocates to implement. Read, be inspired, build community, and take up the mantle for change.”

—From the Foreword by Barbara T. Bowman, Irving B. Harris Professor, Erikson Institute

“This groundbreaking, well-researched book powerfully reveals how deeply entrenched the inequities of child care are, and why our traditional efforts have failed to achieve quality programs for children of poverty and Black and brown children who most need them. It raised my consciousness of the pervasiveness of white privilege and the deep roots of racism that created unjust child care, defeating all our efforts to achieve quality programs and equity for educators and families. Child Care Justice should serve as a beacon to all teacher educators, guide the work of professional organizations, and move us all to disrupt the systems that sustain inequities.”

—Diane Trister Dodge, early childhood curriculum specialist; founder, Teaching Strategies

“The authors of this timely book root our nation's failure to provide the essential public good of early child care and education in our foundational system of racialized slavery. Each carefully curated chapter provides the intersectional analytical tools necessary to understand the historic barriers to a high-quality and accessible child care system in America. Not content to just analyze the problem, the authors provide us with essential reading on the strategies for action to achieve child care justice for children, workers, and parents alike.”

—Dorian T. Warren, co-president, Community Change