I got involved with advocacy through NAEYC and Public Policy Forum in Washington, DC. It was so exciting and challenging due to the low status of the field and low pay. But the connections to NAEYC and CTAEYC are what kept me in the field and advocating. Those lessons in advocacy are part of why I ran for the local school board( to add early childhood education to the district), the state legislature, and the state senate— serving for 14 years in the Connecticut General Assembly until the governor appointed me commissioner of early childhood.
Throughout my career, NAEYC has been at my side.
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These reflections were submitted to NAEYC’ s Year of Reflections as part of the organization’ s centennial celebration. Contributors were selected to represent a range of roles, regions, and career stages across the early childhood education field. Each story has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Check out Year of Reflections: A Century of Impact to learn more about the initiative.
Photographs: courtesy of authors. Copyright © 2026 by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. See permissions and reprints online at NAEYC. org / resources / permissions.
— Beth Bye, early childhood education advocate and policy specialist in West Hartford, Connecticut
Fall 2026 Educating Young Children 27