Who Has Signed the Cradle-to-Career Pledge?
You may recall an edition of this newsletter in February that introduced the “Cradle-to-Career Promise”—a pledge we hoped that candidates for Shelby County elected positions would take to show their support for expanding public Pre-K and Full-Service Community Schools, as well as bridging the workforce gap and improving governmental collaboration.
With early voting starting next Wednesday (April 15th), we wanted to update you with a list of candidates for County Commission and Shelby County Mayor who have signed the pledge.
The Cradle-to-Career Pledge
We cannot keep doing the same things year after year and expecting Memphis and Shelby County to start thriving. It takes bold leaders upholding bold promises to put Shelby Countians on a path to economic mobility.
That is why we call on all candidates who are running for County Mayor, as well as the 13 County Commission districts, to follow Commissioner Mickell Lowery’s example and take the Cradle to Career pledge.
The Cadillac of Early Childhood Systems
While we have some effective components and First 8 Memphis, an incredible system organization for Pre-K, we do not yet have a scaled, sustainable well-oiled machine in Shelby County. This is a problem.
If I wanted to sell you a Cadillac that had a beautiful leather interior but was missing its wheels, you probably wouldn’t buy it. The car would not reliably get you to your destination. Our local early childhood system is like this Cadillac–some good parts and some parts still need to be installed.
Shelby County’s New Year’s Resolutions
If you’re anything like us, you’re struggling to stick to your New Year’s resolutions, and it’s hardly been a week. That’s because it’s way easier to carry on the status quo than to make important, difficult changes to your life. Memphis is the same way—our local governments, education systems, nonprofits, and budgets can easily fall into the same playbook year-in and year-out.
Just like our personal resolutions, we won’t achieve our community resolutions without a plan. While we still face low educational outcomes, entrenched poverty, and a myriad of other challenges, a set of shared resolutions and commitments across our efforts can begin to change how we support our children and families in 2026.
Good data drives systems change.
Pre-K is a long-term investment. Children benefit from Pre-K across a lifetime. Pre-K enrollment has demonstrated positive effects onthird-grade reading, high school graduation, postsecondary success, and adult earnings. These benefits are why we were able to help secure investment from the Memphis and Shelby County governments in local Pre-K.
But to make the case for Pre-K, we need long-term data. Seeding Success and First 8 Memphis have taken on the task of data analysis to help schools, non-profits, and other institutions improve the lives and learning of students.
Data is vital infrastructure. Learn more in this week’s policy update.