Author Archives: GEEARS

By GEEARS Since our inception more than a decade ago, GEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students has been known in the state as a trusted resource for early childhood data. We’re proud of our in-depth community-focused tools like the Readiness Radar, but we’ve also wanted to provide a more high-level snapshot of how […]

By GEEARS When a parent of a young child, aged birth through three, enters the legal system with challenges such as substance use or allegations of neglect or abuse, courts have often removed the child from the home, either for foster care or adoption. While this is a tragedy for the parent, there’s growing recognition […]

The Mayor’s Summer Reading Club (MSRC), an annual program created and coordinated by GEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students, has launched its 11th season!  On Thursday, June 1st, a host of bookish fans gathered on the lawn in front of the Woodruff Arts Center to celebrate. The crowd included at least 100 children […]

By Rear Admiral Casey W. Coane, U.S Navy (Ret.) In 1942, the United States was confronted with a shocking statistic—out of the first two-million young men who were examined for military duty by the Selective Service board, roughly 900,000, were turned away. This alerted many to the unfortunate possibility that nearly 45 percent of young […]

By GEEARS Georgia’s legislative session is a frenetic, blood-pressure-raising marathon every year and at GEEARS, we’ve got to admit, we kind of love the sprint of it.  There’s a special kind of bond we early childhood advocates share during our 40 days (and some nights!) under the Gold Dome. We compare our throbbing feet and […]

By GEEARS We know a lot of data wonks who sit down to a pile of numbers, graphs, charts, and maps, as giddy as a foodie embarking upon a six-course meal.  As for the rest of us, who can think of many things more fun than digging into all that fact- and number-crunching, there is […]

By GEEARS On Tuesday, February 7th, Grey Kovacs marched down a hallway of the Coverdell Legislative Office Building at the Georgia Capitol. She had a long journey past quiet, glass-fronted offices to reach the workplace of her representative, Stacey Evans of House District 57, where she would deliver a letter advocating for paid family leave.  […]

By GEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students One Saturday morning in November, GEEARS’ Pre-K Recruitment Specialist Dawan Barfield stood before a meeting room at the Dean Rusk YMCA Head Start Academy. With his characteristic warmth and ease, he welcomed tables full of volunteers, who smiled back at him over boxed breakfasts.  “Let’s start […]

By GEEARS As the state agency responsible for meeting the child care and early education needs of Georgia’s children and their families, the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) is constantly looking for ways to improve the experiences of our state’s youngest students.  In the late 2000s, a series of independent studies found […]

By GEEARS  These days, the topic of mental health seems to be everywhere. In the wake of the pandemic, medical practitioners, educators, and government leaders are all freshly aware of mental health challenges and the imperative that we incorporate their treatment into everyday healthcare.   Yet, the public still has some catching up to do when […]

By GEEARS At the GEEARS Candidate Summit on Supporting Children and Families on October 3rd, several of Georgia’s candidates for statewide office spoke directly to voters, particularly those of us who vote with a keen eye on the issues that affect Georgians ages five and under. The two-hour program at Georgia Public Broadcasting was a […]

We came, we read, and we gave away a lot of books at a lot of enriching programs. The Mayor’s Summer Reading Club’s tenth season ended last month. Let us count the ways the bookish summer thrilled us:  All summer long, we could tell that MSRC books were about more than helping young children fight […]

When the reconciliation package made its way through the House last November, it contained a $400 billion investment in early childhood education. We felt so hopeful at that time.  But the reconciliation package (now known as the Inflation Reduction Act or IRA) was signed into law on August 16th with these critical funds cut completely. […]

 By GEEARS & United Way of Greater Atlanta Last month, quarterback Matt Ryan, a virtual Mayor Andre Dickens, and a host of community members and children cut the ribbon on a new learning space at the Simpson Street Church of Christ. The Simpson Street Learning Space is a free community play and learn program serving […]

By GEEARS Last week, parents and caregivers celebrated as the COVID-19 vaccine was authorized for children under age five. This was a huge and happy step for millions of families.  It’s been a long, long wait for vaccine access for Georgia’s youngest children, during which working caregivers had to continue contending with child care disruptions, […]

By GEEARS  When the infant formula shortage recently hit a crisis point, reports from around the state were chilling.   “We definitely are in a mess in Emanuel County,” an Early Head Start director said. “And it isn’t just one or two types of formula. It is every formula that has a shortage. Our Walmart told […]

By GEEARS  On April 12th, GEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students hosted a luncheon called Leadership Matters. It was a festive gathering in a sun-drenched banquet hall at the Loudermilk Conference Center. We honored Rep. Katie Dempsey for her visionary legislation on behalf of Georgia’s children and celebrated retiring GEEARS partners, Pam Tatum, […]

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens announced the City of Atlanta will invest $5 million toward early education services in his State of the City address this morning.  As part of his announcement, he also urged the school system to match this commitment and challenged the private sector to raise $10 million to match the public sector’s […]

In neighborhoods throughout the United States including Georgia, children cannot drink from a faucet or make mudpies outside without a risk of lead poisoning. In some homes across Georgia, children are exposed to dust from chipping, peeling and flaking lead-based paint that results in elevated blood lead levels.   According to the Georgia Department of Public […]

The COVID-19 pandemic and the latest omicron wave have exacerbated many of the longstanding challenges facing the early care and education profession, as child care programs and families alike have wrestled with staffing shortages and temporary closures. But the pandemic has also led many to better appreciate the irreplaceable work conducted each day by Georgia’s […]