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State Representative Paul Rosenthal
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-7803
For more information contact: Charlene Briner 651-296-5809
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HOUSE EARLY CHILDHOOD COMMITTEE TO HOLD HEARING IN BLOOMINGTON
The Minnesota House Early Childhood Finance and Policy Division will hold a hearing in Bloomington on Thursday, January 7, in advance of the 2010 Legislative Session. One of a statewide series the committee is holding, the meetings highlight the importance of quality early childhood education to Minnesota’s economic future, and preview early childhood issues that will be on the 2010 legislative agenda.
State Representative Paul Rosenthal, Vice-Chair of the committee, says that the innovative and successful programs in Bloomington make it a natural stop for the bi-partisan delegation. Rep. Rosenthal represents House District 41B, West Bloomington and South Edina.
“Our community is fortunate to have some of the best early childhood programs in the state," said Rep. Rosenthal. “I’m hoping what we do so well can be applied more broadly to improve early childhood education programs in other districts.”
The committee is focusing on ways to achieve Minnesota’s goal to ensure all children are school-ready by the year 2020. Rosenthal stated that early childhood education is a key component to sustaining Minnesota’s highly-skilled workforce and emerging successfully from the current recession.
“Right now, our highest legislative priority is job growth and economic recovery,” said Rosenthal. “Overwhelming evidence and broad agreement among economists, business leaders and policy-makers tells us quality early childhood education provides the best return on investment. Investing in our young children’s learning lays a critical foundation for the educated workforce necessary to sustain long-term economic recovery.”
A pilot program to rate and improve the quality in early care and education settings was a significant result of the 2009 Legislative Session. The Legislature approved the pilot program as the first step toward a voluntary statewide quality rating and improvement system that will give parents information about early care and education programs, including pre-school and childcare settings. Through a partnership with the Minnesota Early Learning Foundation, the Department of Human Services and the Minnesota Department of Education, the rating system provides incentives for providers to improve quality through positive competition; Rosenthal believes it will ultimately improve early learning programs.
“We pay a lot of lip-service to the need for education reform,” said Rosenthal. “The fact is, investing in early childhood and promoting positive competition is the best reform out there. Quality early education saves the state money, it raises overall academic achievement, and it helps us produce the excellent workforce that’s been the hallmark of Minnesota’s economic success.”
The hearing will be held on Thursday, January 7, 2010, at 6:30 p.m. in the boardroom of Oak Grove Middle School, located at 1350 West 106th Street in Bloomington, MN.
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