The Nellie Mae Education Foundation has awarded a $30,000 grant to the Cambridge-based CAYL (Community Advocates for Young Learners) Institute to enhance and build the 2009 CAYL Nellie Mae Education Foundation Policy Forums.

Since 2004, the CAYL Schott Fellowship in Early Care and Education (a program of the CAYL Institute), also funded by the Schott Foundation for Public Education, has offered a series of statewide Policy Forums, convening national and regional leaders on topics that are timely, relevant, and immediately actionable in the Massachusetts early care and education field.

"Bringing people together to talk about critical policy issues for young children is a priority of the CAYL Institute," said CAYL President, Dr. Valora Washington "These Forums enable state leaders and advocates to focus on solutions and to improve the quality of services to children and families."

"We're excited and proud to be working with the CAYL institute and the Schott Foundation to provide these important opportunities for leadership to examine how to better educate and care for our youngest citizens," said Nicholas C. Donohue, President and CEO of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation. "The future of our state and our region is directly tied to the health and prosperity of today's children and we know that investing in their development and enrichment benefits all of us."

The Massachusetts early care and education environment is rapidly changing, and the CAYL Policy Forums have proven to be a constant and reliable source of information about these changes. CAYL consistently has a strong statewide audience of people who count on the Institute for this unbiased and straightforward information and for the opportunity to collaborate on the direction of change for children. Over 320 people attended the three state-wide CAYL Policy Forums held in 2008.

The 2009 CAYL Nellie Mae Education Foundation Policy Forum topics and dates are:

May 5, 2009: "Bringing it All Together: Enhancing the Early Care and Education Workforce" — Research has consistently demonstrated that young children perform better when their teachers have a good education and are well compensated. Yet, nationwide, less than half of teachers of young children have either two or four year degrees. Of those that do, few have degrees in early childhood education or child development. All over the country, early care and education professionals often make little more than minimum wage and receive few, if any, benefits, which leads to the inability of the field to attract and retain well-educated professionals. High turnover rates, up to 50% in many programs and centers, can significantly impact continuity of care and create attachment difficulties for children.

Join the CAYL Schott Fellows and expert panelists as we explore how Massachusetts might create a comprehensive, coordinated system that enables our workforce to achieve higher qualifications.

Details: Tuesday, May 5, 2009, 10 AM-4 PM, 80 Prospect Street, Cambridge MA Register online at: http://cayl.org/workforceroundtable2009.

About the CAYL Institute: Community Advocates for Young Learners, or the CAYL Institute is the new umbrella organization housing several well know fellowships including the CAYL Schott Fellowship in Early Care and Education and the CAYL Principals Fellowship. These important fellowships continue to exist with the full support and infrastructure of the umbrella organization.

The vision of the CAYL Institute is a nation where the right to high quality early education and care is embedded in public policy and professional practice. Our purpose is to organize, equip and empower people to create change on behalf of children. We are guided and informed by our core principles: Representative Leadership, Commitment to Diversity, A Focus on Solutions, and Impact and Innovation.

Please visit www.cayl.org for up-to-date information and for early childhood care and education resources.

About the Nellie Mae Education Foundation: The Nellie Mae Education Foundation is the largest philanthropy in New England that focuses exclusively on education. The Foundation provides grants and other support to education programs and intermediary organizations in order to stimulate transformative change in public education systems and ensure that all New England's learners are prepared for success.

The Foundation investigates, promotes and supports a greater variety of high-quality educational opportunities that enable all citizens-especially and essentially those from underserved populations-to obtain the skills, knowledge and supports necessary to become civically-engaged, economically self-sufficient, life-long learners. Since it was established in 1998, the Foundation has distributed nearly $98 million in grants.

Currently, it primarily provides funding through five strategic initiatives: Early Learning, Pathways to Higher Learning, Time for Learning, Adult Learning, and Systems Building.