Miami, Fl. - Four-year-olds expressed their hopes and dreams for their future careers to Florida House Representative Anitere Flores (R- 114) as they celebrated Picture the Future . The event was hosted at the YWCA Carol Glassman-Donaldson Early Learning Center, a child development center located in Miami.

Representative Flores was joined by parents, business leaders and pre-k teachers to talk about the benefits of degreed teachers and the improvements they are making in Florida's early learning education system. Also attending were Didi Mathieu, Head Teacher 4YOU; Dr. Susan Gold, Early Childhood Association of Florida; and Eileen Maloney, CEO of YWCA of Greater Miami-Dade. The event was moderated by former Florida Representative Cindy Lerner.

Dr. Susan Gold, spoke about Florida's Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten Program (VPK), and how to rate the quality of a pre-k program. She was joined by Eileen Maloney who spoke about the importance of degreed teachers for future economic growth and an educated workforce. Long term benefits, she explained, result from investments in early education.

She is in good company. Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke,started the trend and has been joined by countless business leaders from across the country (including a coalition ofeconomists, business leaders, donors, children's advocates and policy experts with the same goal, the Partnership for America's Economic Success) stressing the need for the United States to provide quality pre-k to four-year-olds. The country, they agree, needs quality pre-k to prepare our future workforce to compete in the global market.

Future goals are important, but Representative Flores also heard from professionals like Didi Mathieu, who are seeing the immediate difference degreed lead teachers make in the lives of Miami-Dade four-year-olds.

Toni Blake, a parent, spoke about how she depends on the teachers to not only educate her child, but to also educate her on how to reinforce what her child learns in the classroom.

By attending and participating in Picture the Future, Rep. Flores made it clear that she supports quality early education for Florida's children. "It is important to prioritize and nurture our state's youngest students and prepare them for their academic future," stated Flores.

Roy Miller, President and founder of Children's Campaign, Inc., a statewide advocacy organization, agreed with Flores and said, "the best way that can happen is with a qualified degreed lead teacher in every pre-k classroom."

Sponsors of the event included the Early Childhood Association of Florida, PreK Now, Voices for America's Children, and Children's Campaign, Inc.