There have been remarkable expansions in early childhood education in the U.S. in recent years, but young kids need a real lobbying force to rival the top influence groups, argues Mark Shriver, president of the Save the Children Action Network.

Save the Children Action Network was started in 2014 and focuses on expanding high-quality early learning in the U.S. and improving maternal and newborn health and safety globally. As a 501(c)4, the group can also make campaign contributions.

"You see bipartisan support for early childhood education on Capitol Hill," said Shriver. "You see it in state governments as well. It does have bipartisan support; it’s just not at the level where it should be ...

"If we expand all-day kindergarten in a state like New Hampshire or more services for kids in Seattle, those kids are only 3, 4 years old once in their life. These are huge gaps that we spend billions of dollars trying to remediate later when they’re in second, third, fourth grade, etc.

"If we can get it up and running today, tomorrow, it has a dramatic impact on those kids’ lives and it shows that progress can be made. Too often politicians, they follow, they don’t get out in front and lead. I think this is a great chance to show them strong data, show them strong programs, and then they’ll follow and invest more dollars going forward."

Read the full article about Save the Children's Mark Shriver and creating a political lobby power by Carolyn Phenicie at The 74.