National Association for the Education of Young Children

NAEYC has issued position statements which identify “whiteness” and being male as “conferring privilege,” ⁴ hosted articles on its website that say teachers may be “teaching children to be racist by their own behavior” if they are not “actively working towards an anti-racist early child space,” ⁵ and released a suggested reading list that includes foundational critical race theory-inspired texts such as How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi, the historically questionable and controversial left-of-center 1619 Project, White Fragility by far-left author Robin DiAngelo, and others. ⁶

NAEYC has encouraged students to join discussions about the far-left Black Lives Matter movement ⁷ and has received grants from Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), ⁸ the left-of-center Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the liberal Center for American Progress, the center-left Bipartisan Policy Center, ⁹ and the left-of-center New Venture Fund, the largest nonprofit managed by Arabella Advisors. ¹⁰

History and Leadership

National Education Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is the largest membership association organization for educators with a focus on children aged 8 and under with approximately 60,000 individual members and 52 affiliates. ^{1 2} The group was founded in 1926. ⁹

Rhian Evans Allvin has been the CEO of NAEYC since 2013. ³ Prior to joining NAEYC, Evans Allvin worked at the left-of-center Arizona Community Foundation, was in leadership at the left-of-center Children’s Action Alliance, and supported left-of-center education-related ballot initiatives in Arizona. ³ She is also a trustee of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. ³

Activities and Funding

National Education Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is a left-of-center education advocacy organization influenced by critical race theory. ¹¹ It offers accreditation for early childhood learning programs, conducts policy research, and makes suggestions for how members should teach in the classroom. ^{12 13}

NAEYC’s recommendations for educators and classrooms are often aligned with critical race theory-inspired narratives. In 2020, NAEYC issued a report that condemned “generations of injustice” and perceived “structural bias” in education, advocated for critical race theory-inspired concepts such as “equity” in early childhood education, criticized police response to violent protests in the summer of 2020 as “weaponizing of white privilege,” ¹⁴ and supported a multilingual education setting for children instead of “harsh” ¹⁵ English-based education. ¹⁶

In 2020, NAEYC launched a reading list that promotes “race, identity, agency, and voice” for young readers ⁷ so that they can engage in concepts that “depart from white-centered ways of knowing and being” in educational settings. ⁷ This list includes foundational critical race theory-inspired works How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi, the historically questionable and controversial left-of-center 1619 Project, White Fragility by far-left author Robin DiAngelo, and others. ⁶

In an April 2019 position statement, NAYEC said, “whiteness, for example, confers privilege, as does being male” ⁴ and identified being U.S.-born, Christian, heterosexual, cisgender, thin, educated, and economically advantaged as favorable traits for gaining access to “power structures” in the U.S. ⁴

This report recommends educators reflect on perceived racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression affecting them and recognize the “power and benefits” of diversity and inclusivity. The report also urges educators to “take responsibility for biased actions” and acknowledge perceived “limitations” of child development theories based on the perspective of “white, middle-class children without disabilities educated in predominately English-language schools. ⁴

NAEYC also has hosted articles on its website that say teachers may be “teaching children to be racist by their own behavior” if they are not “actively working towards an anti-racist early child space;” ⁵ instruct teachers tell children that “black people are not always treated fairly when they go to a doctor, when they are in school, or when they need a place to live;” ¹⁷ and encourage students to approach and join local and national discussions about the far-left Black Lives Matter movement. ⁷

NAEYC is a member of the Protecting Immigrant Families (PIF) program, led by the liberal immigration expansionist National Immigration Law Center and the left-of-center Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP). ¹⁸

Grantmaking

In 2020, NAEYC issued grants of $280,750 to Child Care Aware of America; $150,000 to the center-left Bipartisan Policy Center; $100,000 to the liberal Center for American Progress; $100,000 to First Five Years Fund; and grants of $25,000 or less to 14 different state-level AEYC chapters. ⁹

NAEYC issued grants of $247,5000 to Childcare Aware of America; $135,000 to Bipartisan Policy Center; and $90,000 to the liberal Center for American Progress in 2019. ¹⁹

Funding

In 2020, National Association for Education of Young Children received $3,311,204 of grants and contributions and $12,525,776 from program service fees. ⁹ This is an increase from receiving $1,384,998 of grants and a decrease from receiving $15,819,125 of program service fees in 2019. ⁹

NAEYC received a $66,671 grant from the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS in 2020. ⁸ In 2018, NAEYC received a $1 million grant from the left-of-center Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to work on a project with the left-of-center Bipartisan Policy Center, liberal Center for American Progress, Child Care Aware of America, and the First Five Years Fund.” ²⁰ That same year NAEYC received a $200,000 grant from the left-of-center Heising-Simons Foundation. ²¹

In 2017, NAEYC received a different $200,000 grant from the left-of-center Heising-Simons Foundation ²² and in 2016 NAEYC received a $25,000 grant from the left-of-center New Venture Fund, the largest nonprofit managed by Arabella Advisors, in 2016. ¹⁰