The event was the latest in a series of activities SEIU and our Local have coordinated that bring politicians and candidates to work alongside our members on the job. By demonstrating the real worth of vital public services to our elected representatives, they can be better advocates for securing resources that support effective local community programs.

And it wasn't the first time Connecticut's 2nd Congressional District Representative joined our members for a morning to participate in a hands-on experience. He last "Walked A Day" in the shoes of our Paraprofessional Council members who are instructional aides in Mansfield Public Schools.

This time, members of our Council 760 Chapters representing the Town of Enfield's technical, professional, and supervisory staff coordinated a visit to the Social Services Department's Child Development Center. There, Rep. Courtney was put to work as an "intern" to our members who are the teachers, head teachers, and administrative staff that serve infants and toddlers as well as pre-school and kindergarten students with vital early education services.

Photos of Rep. Courtney working alongside our members in the three classrooms he visited are posted at our online photo gallery.

As we pointed out in the statement we released after the event, it is critical for elected officials to understand that reliable child development and effective early education is vital to Enfield's short-term economic recovery. By providing these critical services, our members help parents pursue a higher education or find and retain a good job that supports a family.

And yet in the budget for 2010 through 2011 passed three weeks ago, the majority on Enfield's Town Council gutted the Child Development Center's resources.

Despite our members' best efforts to urge elected leaders to make better budget choices, these cuts to vital social services are just one example of many that threaten Enfield's future. The Reminder News echoed this message in an article on our proposals for cost savings and greater efficiency we presented to the Town Council in their edition published the week after the budget was adopted.

In fact, our advocacy to preserve the town's vital municipal services provided the subject for a lengthy article on the congressman's visit in Saturday's Journal Inquirer.

(Note: The article refers to an incorrect title for our press release on the "Walk A Day" event, which was due to an error in the body of the email message sent to the reporter.)

The article also raises important questions about the need to support our members of congress in their efforts to secure federal resources for struggling communities like Enfield. Most recently, Rep. Courtney has been urging the Senate to take up legislation he and his colleagues in the House passed last winter that provides critically needed funds for local education services at risk in districts facing tough economic conditions.

After all, this is not just an ideological debate about the role of government or the appropriate use of public funds to spur economic recovery. Enfield's school board is wrestling with choices as difficult as those that faced the Town Council last month, and may be adopting a budget with deep cuts to vital education services and staff layoffs this week.

And as members of our Paraprofessional Council Chapter who work in the district's schools and the children they serve face an uncertain future, it is critical that we continue demonstrating the real value of public services in Enfield. The community's future is what's at stake.