State Sen. Beth Bye and Rep. Andy Fleischmann, both West Hartford residents, were honored Friday by the Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance.

State Sen. Beth Bye (right) at a ceremony Friday honoring her as a Children’s Champion. Submitted photo

Submitted

Surrounded by parents and children inside the new Family Resource Center at the brand-new Charter Oak International Academy Elementary School, State Sen. Beth Bye (D-West Hartford) was honored Friday by the Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance as one of its 2016 “Children’s Champions” for her legislative work on behalf of Connecticut’s children.

State Rep.Andy Fleischmann (D-West Hartford) was also honored as a 2016 Children’s Champion. Together, the two West Hartford Democrats helped secure an 80 percent state reimbursement (state funding) to construct the $42 million Charter Oak School, which is the first new elementary school built in West Hartford in over half a century.

The Alliance honored Bye and Fleischmann for their work at the State Capitol, including passing legislation that eliminates the tax on diapers, requiring criminal background checks for all daycare workers, and for their advocacy on reducing childhood obesity and increasing access to early childhood programs.

“Senator Bye and Representative Fleischmann year after year support early childhood education, and they are real policy experts in the area of early education,” said Samantha Dynowski, director of outreach and advocacy for the CT Early Childhood Alliance.

“I’m honored to be recognized by the Early Childhood Alliance for my work on behalf of all of Connecticut’s kids,” Bye said. “It’s especially rewarding to be standing here in the new Family Resource Center at Charter Oak, surrounded by all these parents and children, and to know that we have a community that values and fights for education. West Hartford is a shining example of that phrase, ‘Every kid, every time,’ and I’m proud to be a part of that community.”

Founded in 2002, the Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance is a statewide organization committed to improving outcomes for children ages birth to eight years old in the areas of learning, health, safety, and economic security.