Success for all children: From pre-school to graduate school

The more we learn about children’s development, the more we understand that success in college begins before a child enters kindergarten.

Recently, I formed the Governor’s P-20 Education Council to help create a collaborative, seamless education system in Kansas. Across the country, 30 states have formed similar groups; and for Kansas to stay competitive in today’s economy, efforts like this will play an important role.

This council will ensure a comprehensive system of education with benchmarks for success from pre-school through graduate school.

Representatives from our colleges and universities will team up with public school officials, early childhood advocates and business leaders to make sure that every Kansas child has the opportunity to reach his or her full potential.

I’m encouraged with the caliber of those who are investing their time and talent to better the success of Kansas kids. Their efforts will better prepare students to enter the workforce and translate into a better educated workforce.

Kansas has long been at the forefront of early childhood initiatives – we were the first state to form a partnership with the federal government to fund Early Head Start programs. Recently, we’ve committed more than a billion dollars to our public K-12 system, and we’ve realigned our post-secondary opportunities to be more competitive in the global market place.

Such improvements, across the spectrum of our education system are important in preparing our young people. But equally as important, is ensuring that education is seamless from one level to the next.

Over the past few years, we’ve made a remarkable investment in our public school system. As we work to keep this commitment, this council will make sure our resources are invested wisely and contain a measure of accountability.

The vision of the Governor’s P-20 Education Council will help our schools see the big picture, and chart the path to success for every Kansas child.