Author Archives: GEEARS

Earlier this fall, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), and the Children’s Hospital Association declared a national emergency in children’s mental health. As evidence, they cited a CDC report, which found that between March and October 2020, emergency department visits for mental health emergencies rose by 24% for […]

Lead poisoning isn’t just a problem in Flint, Michigan, and toxic lead levels aren’t just found in drinking water. Over the last year, GEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students has been working with community leaders on the Westside of Atlanta, where lead slag found in a grandmother’s garden soil has prompted the Environmental […]

In July 2021 GEEARS commissioned a statewide survey of 400 Georgia parents with children ages 0-4 that focused on a range of topics including child care arrangements and satisfaction levels, general attitudes toward, perceptions of, and preferences for child care, and financial and employment impacts in relation to child care during these unprecedented times.  Greater […]

There is a workforce crisis. It is a national issue and also one in Georgia. This issue started before the pandemic and has become more amplified over the past 18 months. It has become increasingly difficult to recruit people to careers in early childhood education. Before and during the pandemic, educators report that the primary […]

The opportunity gap in the City of Atlanta starts early. There are more than 30,000 children in Atlanta who are between the ages of birth to five, and their families face housing, health care, and child care costs that are increasingly out of reach. These challenges make it harder for parents to provide the support […]

Brittany Collins, Director, PAACT You have likely heard or used the phrase, “let’s make a pact.” You may have said it to your kids, a friend, or your neighbor. A pact is a promise, a commitment to something that is important to you. In Atlanta, PAACT is the promise of something big… PAACT: Promise All […]

Right now, your friends, your neighbors, and maybe members of your own families are facing decisions about going back to work, changing jobs or even leaving the workforce altogether as they struggle with child care challenges. Studies have shown that this issue is impacting women’s participation in the workforce at an alarming pace. Child care […]

Last week, families with infants and toddlers from every state met with their members of Congress to encourage them to prioritize the needs of young children for the national Strolling Thunder, led by ZERO TO THREE.   Kristen Johnson, a working mother of two young children from Duluth, represented the state of Georgia. She is a […]

By Mindy Binderman Georgia is still just getting started when it comes to making progress for our infants and toddlers.  That’s according to a ZERO TO THREE, whose latest State of Babies Yearbook: 2021 report shows while Georgia has made progress in supporting young children in our state, we still have a good deal of […]

By Mindy Binderman, Executive Director, GEEARS The American Rescue Plan of 2021, signed into law by President Biden earlier his month, includes critical and historic measures to reduce childhood poverty, support struggling families, ensure child and caregiver health and well-being, stabilize the child care industry, and expand access to child care for working families.  The pandemic has taken a significant toll on American families, […]

Earlier this year, GEEARS hosted Georgia’s fourth annual Strolling Thunder. In partnership with ZERO TO THREE, this special event brought together infants, toddlers, and their families to urge policymakers to make the needs of Georgia’s youngest learners a statewide priority—for stronger families, vibrant communities, and a prosperous state. Please watch our video to learn more […]

By Mindy Binderman, Executive Director, GEEARS Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, few workers have been as essential as Georgia’s early education professionals. They have been on the front lines, working tirelessly to teach, love, and care for our youngest learners and allowing their parents to work. These early childhood educators deserve our recognition […]

By Brittany Collins, Director of PAACT: Promise All Atlanta Children Thrive and Mindy Binderman, Executive Director of GEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students As we enter 2021, one cannot help but reflect on what a tumultuous year 2020 has been, and how it has forced us to reimagine traditional ways of thinking and doing. GEEARS launched the PAACT initiative last year, and despite all of us […]

This year has been difficult for everyone, especially our youngest children, their caregivers, and Georgia’s educators. And Thanksgiving, along with so many other holidays and milestone commemorations, looked a lot different in 2020. One thing that this pandemic has taught me, however, is to never miss a chance for a celebration. And it is with […]

By Mindy Binderman, Executive Director, GEEARS Georgia, more than any time in recent memory, is one of the nation’s hottest political battlegrounds. The Presidential candidates made multiple visits to the state recently, while voters were inundated with campaign ads and media coverage about the 2020 election.   But after Election Day, our newly elected members of Congress and the Georgia General Assembly will stop campaigning and start legislating. And […]

By Stephanie Blank, GEEARS Board Chair In the midst of a global pandemic, who doesn’t welcome an excuse to celebrate? Georgia Pre-K Week may look a little different this year, but now more than ever, it’s a necessary chance to herald and highlight the importance of Georgia Pre-K In its 10th year, the annual event […]

By Katie Landes, Director, Georgia Statewide Afterschool Network  &  Mindy Binderman, Executive Director, GEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students  Imagine facing the day with a grumbling belly and an empty refrigerator. And imagine if you’re a young child, missing your teachers and friends while struggling to focus on a computer screen.  That is the situation facing many children in Atlanta right now, as bureaucratic barriers have made the delivery of food […]

By GEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students Normally at this time of year, parents of young children would be preparing for the start of the school year. They might be shopping to the back-to-school sales, or simply easing their young ones out of their summer routines to prepare to meet their new teachers and classmates. But these are […]

By Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students Uncertain. Unprecedented. Unsettled. No matter how one might describe the times in which we live, one thing is for sure: our youngest Georgians are living through a summer unlike any we’ve seen in recent history.   With schools closed since March, and many caregivers having to take on teaching duties on top of their […]