The 1st teachers we forget: Honoring preschool educators this teacher appreciation day

Science confirms what educators have always known: The early years matter. According to the Harvard Center on the Developing Child, 90% of a child’s brain develops before the age of 5.

During this time, children build the neural architecture for everything that follows — language, emotional regulation, executive functioning and social connection. Preschool teachers aren’t just preparing kids for kindergarten. They are helping build the blueprint for a child’s entire future.

That makes early educators our first teachers — and arguably our most influential.

They introduce language and literacy. They teach children how to share, resolve conflict and identify their feelings. They scaffold independence and support cognitive growth. They build trust and belonging. And they do it all in spaces that require patience, presence and a deep understanding of child development.

But here’s the truth: We don’t treat them like the experts they are.

Early childhood educators face among the lowest wages in the education workforce. Many lack basic benefits. In high-cost areas like San Mateo County, the people we trust to care for our youngest learners are struggling to care for their own families. That is not only unsustainable — it’s unjust.

Now, they face a new threat.

Early Head Start is one of the few programs that provides high-quality, relationship-based care to infants and toddlers from low-income families. One federal proposal suggested cuts, yet is now in flux with cuts to other programs possibly in the works. Any cut could eliminate access for tens of thousands of children nationwide. The result? More families left without care. More working parents are forced to make impossible choices. And more children are missing out on a strong, stable start in life.

Any proposed cut flies in the face of everything we know about early childhood development. And it sends a dangerous message: that the earliest years — and those who teach them — don’t matter.

I believe otherwise. The road to educational equity starts long before third grade test scores or college prep courses. It starts with what happens in a preschool classroom. It starts with who we choose to value.

So, on Teacher Appreciation Day, I offer a simple challenge: Expand your definition of “teacher.”

Remember that the person who first helped your child count to 10, express a feeling or hold a crayon was also teaching. That a toddler’s scribble is as foundational as a teenager’s thesis.

And that investing in early educators is not a luxury — it’s a public good.

If we want an education system that truly supports every child, we must start where learning begins: at birth. That means defending the programs that serve young children. It means raising wages for early educators. And it means naming and celebrating their impact, not just privately, but publicly.

To every preschool teacher, Early Head Start provider, and infant-toddler specialist: Your work is not forgotten. You are not secondary. You are not “just day care.” You are educators in the fullest sense of the word.

We see you. We need you. And on this Teacher Appreciation Day, we stand with you.

Dr. Charles Hansen is a nonprofit executive leader and resident of San Mateo.