Governor Parkinson promotes early childhood education through advisory council

To enhance early educational opportunities for Kansas children, Governor Mark Parkinson has created the Kansas Early Childhood Advisory Council.

"I am proud to form this advisory council that will assess the ways in which Kansas can maximize early childhood education opportunities for our kids," Parkinson said. "Starting their learning process early can make a big difference in their development. These young individuals are the future of Kansas, and an investment in their education is an investment in the future success of our communities and our state."

Early childhood education and developmental programs have shown to enhance children's cognitive, social, and emotional development to better prepare them for kindergarten. School readiness is particularly critical for low-income and at-risk children. Research has shown that investment in comprehensive, high-quality early childhood programs can yield enormous economic benefits for future generations and local communities. These services can actually save money by preventing future expenditures on remedial education, corrections, and other costs associated with poor early childhood outcomes.

The Head Start Reauthorization Act of 2007 requires the creation of a State Early Childhood Advisory Council. The council will be coordinated by the Executive Director of the Kansas Children's Cabinet and Trust Fund, Jim Redmon.

The Kansas Early Childhood Advisory Council will build on the work of the Kansas Children's Cabinet, the Kansas Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Plan and the Kansas Early Learning Coordinating Council. It will conduct a periodic statewide needs assessment concerning the quality and availability of early childhood education and development programs and services for children from birth to school entry. This will include an assessment of the availability of high-quality pre-kindergarten services for low-income children in Kansas. Among its many other duties, the advisory council will develop recommendations for increasing the overall participation of children in existing child care and early childhood education programs, as well as recommendations regarding the establishment of a unified data collection system.

Parkinson created the Kansas Early Childhood Advisory Council through Executive Order 10-05. To view the full executive order, please visit: http://governor.ks.gov/issues-a-initiatives/executive-orders.