May 21, 2008

The Kids Are Priority One Coalition is organizing a virtual strike for this fall as a way to illustrate the link for businesses and the general public between child development and economic development. A virtual strike is when parents who use child care go to work and wear a button--all on the same day--that says something like, "I'm at work today because I have child care." New Hampshire held a virtual strike in 2001 that received lots of attention from policymakers and the media.

Rather than hold statewide planning meetings (which most early childhood educators cannot attend), we have scheduled two conference calls, one in the evening and one mid- day, to begin to plan for the virtual strike:

• Thursday, June 5, 7 PM
• Friday, June 6, 1:30 PM

We will organize an additional weekend call if necessary.

The calls are open to anyone who would like to participate. The call-in number is (906) 481-2110. If that number is busy, dial (218) 862-6100. With either number, the passcode is: 281789#. (Note: You will be billed for a long-distance call unless you have unlimited long-distance service.)

Please participate in only ONE of the calls. Both calls will include a discussion of the same agenda items:

• Planning structure (e.g., regional planning teams with a representative who sits on a statewide Planning Committee)
• Timing and length of the virtual strike (1 day? a week?)
• Our message(s)
• Outreach strategies (how we get the word out)
• Written materials needed (flyers, etc.)
• Other concerns/questions/ideas
• Next steps

Kim Friedman, Kids Are Priority One's Organizing Director, will facilitate both calls. Following the second call, she will send out a summary of the discussions. If the two calls result in differing recommendations, a core team will make the final decisions, with the buck stopping with the six Kids Are Priority One lead organizations.

For more information, contact Kim at (802) 348-9879 or kfriedman@svcable.net.