Who We Are
Early Matters is a statewide collaborative of business, civic, education, nonprofit and philanthropic leaders dedicated to economic mobility and prosperity for all Texas families through strategic investments in both policies and practices that support children birth – age 8.
Early Matters San Antonio
mark.larson@earlymatterssa.org
Early Matters El Paso
Early Matters Greater Austin
cathy.mchorse@uwatx.org
earlymattersgreateraustin.org
Early Matters Dallas
info@earlymattersdallas.org
earlymattersdallas.org
Early Matters El Paso
earlymatterselpaso.net
Good Reason Houston
trista@goodreasonhouston.org
goodreasonhouston.org
Early Matters San Antonio
mark.larson@earlymatterssa.org
Child Well-Being Movement
haleyoconnell@unitedwaywaco.org
mclennancountychildwellbeing.org
Our Goals
Early Matters works to increase 3rd grade academic outcomes in Texas through:
Quality/Sustainability of Child Care
Families have access to affordable, quality early childhood environments that help their children learn and develop.
Quality of ECE Workforce
A well-trained and well-compensated workforce who have access to professional supports.
Kindergarten Readiness
All children enter kindergarten prepared for school success.
Quality of PK-3rd Public Education
Early elementary classrooms and educators have the support and resources they need to ensure students are performing at grade level by 3rd grade.
Why Early Childhood Education?
Investing in quality early childhood education now is the best way to support existing families in the workforce and ensure a more qualified, higher skilled workforce in the future.
The extraordinary development that occurs from birth to age 5 forms the bedrock for lifelong health, intellectual ability, emotional well-being, and social functioning.
Early Childhood is a smart investment, leading to a 13.7% ROI.
The learning gap is evident by third grade and only 15% of school districts nationwide can produce enough academic growth in a year to close it by high school graduation.
Children in high quality early childhood environments are four times more likely to graduate from high school or college, enabling them to fill our future workforce needs.
Legislative Advocacy
Our coalition is dedicated to influencing state policy that is aligned with our goals. We bring stakeholder voices to the capitol to ensure policy is informed by data and real-world experience.
For the 88th legislative session, we seek:
Ensure local workforce boards have the standards and supports needed to maximize funding, improve transparency, and provide families access to high-quality child care.
- Strengthening the childcare workforce
- Helping parents get back to work with affordable child care and PreK
- Investing in the child care infrastructure in Texas
Learn more from our partners: Download “88th Session Early Childhood Education Legislative Agenda (PDF)”
Contact Your Legislators
Sign up to stay informed with email alerts and templates for contacting your legislators that support our policy priorities.