The Malvern School and ECEC Lobby Congress to Prevent Future Tragedies

Written by The Malvern School | Jul 15, 2024 3:00:46 PM

At The Malvern School, our hearts are heavy as we mourn the innocent children and teachers in Uvalde, Texas – as well as far too many others throughout the country – whose lives were lost due to senseless and unthinkable gun violence. While we have robust health and safety measures in place to protect our students, educators and staff at The Malvern School, more must be done to ensure these acts of violence never happen in our communities again. To help prevent future tragedies, The Malvern School is working with fellow members of the Early Care and Education Consortium to lobby Congress and state legislatures for stronger gun laws. Our commitment to enacting change is represented in the statement below signed jointly by Kristen Waterfield, Founder and CEO of The Malvern School, and leaders of some of the nation’s largest early childhood education providers.

Early Childhood Education Providers Issue Joint Statement in Support of Sensible Gun Laws

The Early Care and Education Consortium working together to lobby Congress for stronger gun laws to prevent future tragedies

WASHINGTON--We are deeply saddened about the children and teachers whose innocent lives were taken by gun violence recently in Uvalde, Texas. We mourn alongside their families, their community, and our nation. Sadly, this most recent tragedy is one of many examples of gun violence in our communities and in our schools. This must stop. As providers who are entrusted with the care of young children every day, we prioritize first and foremost the health and safety of children and educators. While each of us takes strong measures every day to ensure the safety of the children in our care, we strongly believe there is more to be done to prevent these types of acts of violence in our communities . The Early Care and Education Consortium, which includes some of the nation’s largest providers of early childhood education and care, stands with educators, parents, our communities and partners and calls upon Congress and state legislatures to pass more sensible gun laws. Now, more than ever, the nation needs to come together to end gun violence and ensure all children have safe and nurturing learning environments, and educators have safe and secure places of work. The time to act is now. Signed, Tom Wyatt, Chairman and CEO, KinderCare Learning Companies Mark Bierley, CEO, Learning Care Group, Inc. Bruce Karpas, Chairman and CEO, Crème de la Crème Chad Dunkley, CEO, New Horizon Academy David Evans, CEO, Childcare Network Henry Wilde, CEO, Acelero Learning and Shine Early Learning John Olsen, CEO, Teaching Strategies Jeff Wahl, CEO, Big Blue Marble Academy Gerry Pastor and Jane Porterfield, Founders and Co-CEOs, The Nest Schools Joshua Frick, President, Kiddie Academy Educational Child Care Matthew Marceron, President and CEO, Kaplan Early Learning Company Wes Wooten, President, The Sunshine House Kristen Waterfield, Founder and CEO, The Malvern School Mary Ann Curran, CEO, Busy Bees North America Leigh-Ellen Louie, CEO, Cadence Education Jeff Altschuler, Founder and CEO, Old School Academies Dennis Maple, Chairman and CEO, Goddard Systems, Inc. Stephen Kramer, CEO, Bright Horizons Ricardo Campo, CEO, Endeavor Schools Richard Weissman, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO, The Learning Experience The Early Care and Education Consortium (ECEC) is a non-profit alliance of the leading multi-state/multi-site child care providers, key state child care associations, and premier educational service providers, representing over 7,000 programs in 48 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and select international locations. ECEC’s members serve as the unified collective voice for providers of high-quality programs and services that support families and children from diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. ECEC advocates for strong federal and state policies that bring quality to scale.

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