I attended PTA’s Annual Legislative Conference last week (March 7-10). Two others from Massachusetts’ State PTA Board joined me to meet with Massachusetts’ Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown, Congresswoman Nikki Tsongas, and Congressmen Ed Markey and Barney Frank. We spoke with them about the importance of promoting family engagement standards in the reauthorization of Elementary and Secondary Education Act/No Child Left Behind and of providing opportunity and equity for all children so they can be prepared for the future.
Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, was keynote speaker at lunch Wednesday. As the country’s highest-ranking health official, Secretary Sebelius played a key role in the passage of the historic Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and is now leading its implementation. The Secretary spoke about how effective family engagement, beginning with Head Start and during a child’s early years, lays a positive foundation for success during transitions and across a child’s lifespan.
Listening to her, I was struck anew by the powerful responsibility we all share to ensure people receive the health care they need and provide children, families, and seniors with the essential human services they depend upon. Across Massachusetts schools lack resources for critical programs they need to reduce gaps and overcome barriers to learning that threaten the quality of education for every child and leave our most vulnerable children behind.
Our state and local governments, with the federal government as a critical third partner, also share responsibility for assuring all children have equitable access to high-quality public education and health care. Budgets are tight but government requirements, and children's needs, are growing; this is most pronounced at the intersection of children's education and health care needs. Engaging families on this issue is vital: when children are healthy, school attendance improves and children learn better.
Here we are, already in the second decade of the 21st century. as we navigate challenges before us, let us continue to look for opportunities. Our public health infrastructure throughout the country must be a higher priority and we need to upgrade state and local health departments. Secretary Sebelius has answered President Obama's call to break down walls in government to serve the American people more effectively. For example, she has teamed up with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to raise the quality of early childhood education programs.
Founded in 1897, PTA is the oldest and largest volunteer child advocacy association in the country. One of PTA's founding principles is its dedication to engaging parents in the education of their children. Since its inception, PTA has provided workshops and resources on healthy child development to parent groups and community leaders. From the outset, PTA championed the importance of equal opportunity for all children, regardless of socioeconomic background, and addressed associated problems of child labor, childhood diseases, and the unfair and punitive treatment of children involved in the justice system.
PTA continues to advocate for all children to have the opportunity to grow and achieve through education. In the context of PTA, advocacy is supporting and speaking up for children in schools, in communities, and before government bodies and other organizations that make decisions affecting children. We educated members of Congress and their staff on PTA's priorities: adequate funding for schools and an improved juvenile justice system that ensures all children are college and career ready.
Listening to her, I was struck anew by the powerful responsibility we all share to ensure people receive the health care they need and provide children, families, and seniors with the essential human services they depend upon. Across Massachusetts schools lack resources for critical programs they need to reduce gaps and overcome barriers to learning that threaten the quality of education for every child and leave our most vulnerable children behind.
Our state and local governments, with the federal government as a critical third partner, also share responsibility for assuring all children have equitable access to high-quality public education and health care. Budgets are tight but government requirements, and children's needs, are growing; this is most pronounced at the intersection of children's education and health care needs. Engaging families on this issue is vital: when children are healthy, school attendance improves and children learn better.
Here we are, already in the second decade of the 21st century. as we navigate challenges before us, let us continue to look for opportunities. Our public health infrastructure throughout the country must be a higher priority and we need to upgrade state and local health departments. Secretary Sebelius has answered President Obama's call to break down walls in government to serve the American people more effectively. For example, she has teamed up with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to raise the quality of early childhood education programs.
Founded in 1897, PTA is the oldest and largest volunteer child advocacy association in the country. One of PTA's founding principles is its dedication to engaging parents in the education of their children. Since its inception, PTA has provided workshops and resources on healthy child development to parent groups and community leaders. From the outset, PTA championed the importance of equal opportunity for all children, regardless of socioeconomic background, and addressed associated problems of child labor, childhood diseases, and the unfair and punitive treatment of children involved in the justice system.
PTA continues to advocate for all children to have the opportunity to grow and achieve through education. In the context of PTA, advocacy is supporting and speaking up for children in schools, in communities, and before government bodies and other organizations that make decisions affecting children. We educated members of Congress and their staff on PTA's priorities: adequate funding for schools and an improved juvenile justice system that ensures all children are college and career ready.