Obama made several pledges to make early childhood education a top priority in his administration. I just hope he comes through with those promises. Education for young children is a mess in many states.
Among some top priorities that the President needs to focus on are:
1. a uniformed career ladder for early childhood professionals who are trying to gain a better footing in the industry.
2. more funding for Head Start and Early Head Start, especially in poor, rural locations where a large portion of the families who speak English as a second language.
3. more mixed-study research opportunities for early childhood experts stemming more from locations like the Administration for Children and Youth and the Department of Education rather than the National Science Foundation.
3 comments:
I agree with you. Hopefully, Obama will make Early Childhood Education a top priority in his administration. Right now, he is dealing with other issues. But this is an issue that his administration needs to focus on because this is for our children's future.
Ashley,
Thank you for your post.
I haven't given up on our President, yet. He was pretty swift in pushing through the SCHIP health initiative for children.
Education, of course, is a much larger elephant. It's a divisive subject, especially when you are taking about the youngest of the young. For example, many conservatives here in South Carolina still believe that the solution to early childhood educational woes is for women to commit themselves to being homemakers and to stay home with their children.
Unfortunately, with the passing of Ed Kennedy, educational bipartisanship may be entrenched. Getting NCLB will be a beast with Kennedy. I hope and pray that John Kerry and Chris Dodd step up and help the President. I do not want to see education become a "Democratic bill" that is "bullied" through Congress.
We still have a long way to go...but I always believe that I see light at the end of the tunnel.
:)
I believe Obama is concerned about the level of violence on children in places like Chicago and he is concerned about the high school drop out rate. What he has to realize is that to make real change in education it has to start with young children and parents - win the hearts and minds. Parents attitudes toward education and their part in it directly impacts children and their expectations of what they will accomplish in school.
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