Thursday, December 7, 2006
Contact: Brian Hauswirth, 573-751-0290
Blunt Meets with Missouri Coordinating Board for Early Childhood
JEFFERSON CITY–Noting the state’s long history of support for early childhood development, Governor Matt Blunt this afternoon met with the Missouri Coordinating Board for Early Childhood before their first meeting.
“Families all across Missouri welcoming new infants to their homes face the same parenting questions including nutrition and screening concerns, searches for safe child care providers and questions regarding the development of their infant,” Blunt said. “While Missouri has worked hard to help families with their parenting challenges, there is always more work to be done.”
The Board’s mission is to help ensure Missouri has a coordinated approach to serving Missouri’s youngest children. The Board will continue the tradition of Missouri’s support for early childhood development. Blunt notes Missouri’s history with early learning began with Susan Blow, a Missourian who opened America’s first public kindergarten in St. Louis in 1873. Parents as Teachers, which started in Missouri under the leadership of then-Governor Kit Bond, has become an international program.
Blunt told the Board the early years are among the most crucial and form the foundation for all future learning. Because of that, Blunt called for maximizing our resources for young children, and said the Coordinating Board for Early Childhood will be a vehicle to assess how we’re doing and where we go from here.
Blunt has championed early childhood issues. Blunt has provided an increase every year in his budget to enhance Parents as Teachers, and last year signed legislation into law requiring DESE to establish standards for early childhood programs, such as the Missouri Preschool Project, funded by the state.
The Board’s first meeting was today.
###