The most interesting news item of the past week from an early childhood perspective has to be Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, talking about early childhood as one of the paths to a better public school system.

Speaking at the union's Seattle convention, Weingarten said it's time we "build a system of public education as it ought to be."

She, of course, had a bunch of ideas about how to do that, including supporting "wrap-around" services such as after-school nutrition, health and early childhood programs. You can read more here.

So why is this important? Because Weingarten is high profile, and when she adds early childhood to a speech about the public schools - one of the hottest topics of the day - it tends to get attention.

And the more attention early childhood gets, the more likely it is to be seen by others as one of the key ways to fix what ails the nation's public schools.

And that's how public perception shifts.

- Andy Heller