Early education is the focus of a film festival in Alabama this month.
The Invest Early Film Festival is featuring two documentaries about the importance of early education in the state. The project is being put on by the Alabama Association of School Boards, the Business Council of Alabama and the Alabama School Readiness Alliance. Allison Muhlendorf is the executive director of the Alliance. She said this is an opportunity to inform people about the needs of education before the next legislative session.
“We are encouraging state leaders to continue to expand Alabama’s Pre-K program by bumping up the level of funding each year. We’re also supporting investments in child care quality to help parents have more quality options and help strengthen the overall child care system,” she said.
Muhlendorf said the first movie being shown explains where the country and state of Alabama falls short.
“No Small Matter lays out the overwhelming evidence for the importance of the first five years and the dire consequences of our country’s collective failure to act on that evidence. We know that early childhood is the most impactful time to invest as a society in education,” she said.
No Small Matter will air until next Sunday. The second film is called Starting at Zero: Reimagining Education in America. It was produced by the Harvard School of Education and focuses on Alabama’s First Class Pre-K program. It starts showing this coming Monday. There will be lunchtime discussions on the films on Tuesdays during the festival at the Readiness Alliance’s Facebook page. Those wanting to view the films must register at investearlyalabama.org.
