Governor Patton to Chair NGA Winter Meeting February 21- 25

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 21, 2003
Contact: Christine LaPaille or John Blacksten, 202/624-5334 or
Terry Sebastian (502) 682-9405

Governor Patton to Chair NGA Winter Meeting February 21 –25
Open with Dialogue on Preparing America's Children to Learn

WASHINGTON—The nation’s governors will open their Winter Meeting with a dialogue on the importance of early childhood education, the National Governors Association (NGA) announced today. “Preparing America’s Children” will be the focus of the first half of the opening plenary session, which will be held from 9:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m. on February 23 at the JW Marriott Hotel in Washington. The session will begin with Rob Reiner and Craig Ramey outlining the research and key issues relating to early childhood education; then governors will discuss the challenges and opportunities of policy design and implementation.

Rob Reiner, perhaps best known as an Emmy-winning actor and film director, currently chairs the California Children and Families Commission and is the founder of the I Am Your Child Foundation (IAYC). The foundation is a national, nonpartisan organization that raises awareness about the importance of early childhood development and school readiness. IAYC also promotes public policies that help ensure children have the physical well-being and the social, emotional, and cognitive abilities they need to enter school ready to succeed.

Craig Ramey, Ph.D., is the founding director of the Georgetown Center of Health and Education and the Georgetown University Distinguished Professor of Health Studies. Author of more than 200 publications, Ramey specializes in the study of factors affecting the development of intelligence, social competence, and academic achievement in young children. During the past 30 years, Ramey has led research and development teams involving more than 500 professionals and 14,000 children and families across America.

“The No Child Left Behind Act focuses on closing the achievement gap between high- and low-performing children,” said NGA Chairman Kentucky Gov. Paul E. Patton. “This plenary session will show how quality early childhood education programs can help to reduce—or even prevent—this gap.”

At the plenary, Gov. Patton will announce the creation of the NGA Task Force on School Readiness. This bipartisan group of governors will focus on preparing children age birth through five for school by:

communicating the importance of family, school, and community support in providing a foundation for learning;

examining effective connections between early childhood policies and programs, and the K–12 education system; and

using targeted accountability and assessment tools to determine which policies and programs best meet children’s needs.

The task force will identify best practices of state policy and evaluate programs’ fiscal requirements to ensure that a wide range of early childhood policy options are available to governors.

“To compete and succeed in today’s New Economy, states need to build a highly-skilled workforce,” said NGA Vice Chairman Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne. “And that starts before high school or even grade school. It begins with preparing our youngest children to learn. Students who walk into school ready to learn have a much higher potential for achievement. Governors are in a unique position to form partnerships and help develop strategies that will increase opportunities for early childhood learning and development.”

This opening plenary session is only open to media credentialed for the NGA Winter Meeting. Advance meeting registration is now closed, but other pertinent information—including the agenda—is still available on the NGA Winter Meeting Web site, www.nga.org/wm03hkx/gen. Reporters and producers who missed advance registration may register at the JW Marriott beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, February 22. Please note that this year NGA will issue photo meeting credentials for every attendee. Please allow 10–15 minutes for on-site credentialing.

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NGA, founded in 1908, is the instrument through which the nation’s governors collectively influence the development and implementation of national policy and apply creative leadership to state issues. Its members are the governors of the 50 states, three territories and two commonwealths. For more information, visit www.nga.org.

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John H. Blacksten
Office of Public Affairs
National Governors Association
Hall of the States
444 North Capitol Street – Suite 267
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-624-7787
Fax: 202-624-5313
E-mail: jblacksten@nga.org