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5215 McPherson
Laredo, TX 78041
P.O. Box 2579
Laredo, TX 78044
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 26, 2009
CEO appointed to Governor’s State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care
Austin, TX – Mary Capello, Chief Executive Officer of TMC has been appointed to Governor Rick Perry's State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care. The Advisory Council will have the unprecedented opportunity to provide leadership to the State of Texas regarding core policy and practice areas necessary to ensure the school readiness of our youngest Texans. The overall responsibility of the State Advisory Council will be to lead the development or enhancement of a high-quality, comprehensive system of early childhood development and care that ensures statewide coordination and collaboration among the wide range of early childhood programs and services in the State, including child care, Head Start, IDEA preschool and infants and families programs, and pre-kindergarten programs and services.
Responsibilities designated by the Governor will include:
- Conducting periodic needs assessment of the quality and availability of early childhood education and development programs, including an assessment of the availability of high-quality pre-k; services for low-income children in the state; identifying opportunities for, and barriers to, collaboration and coordination among federally funded and state-funded programs and agencies responsible for child development, child care, and early childhood education programs and services;
- Developing recommendations for increasing participation of children in existing federal, state, and local child care and early education programs, including outreach to underrepresented and special populations;
- Developing recommendations regarding the establishment of a unified data collection system for public early childhood education and development programs and services throughout the state;
- Developing recommendations regarding statewide professional development and career advancement plans for early childhood educators in the state; assessing the capacity and effectiveness of two and four-year public and private institutions of higher education in the state toward supporting the development of early childhood educators, including the extent to which such institutions have in place articulation agreements, professional development and career advancement plans, and practice or internships for students to spend time in a Head Start or prekindergarten program;
- Make recommendations for improvements in state early learning standards and, where appropriate, develop high-quality comprehensive early learning standards.
Background
Section 642 B(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Head Start Act, 42 USC 9837B(B)(1)(A)(i), which was added by The Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007, requires the Governor of each “State” as defined in Section 637.25 to designate or establish a council to serve as the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care for children from birth to school entry (referred to as State Advisory Councils). Members of the Council shall include a representative of the State agency responsible for child care; a representative of the State educational agency; a representative of local educational agencies; a representative of institutions of higher education in the State; a representative of local providers of early childhood education and development services; a representative from Head Start agencies located in the State, including Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs and Indian Head Start programs; the State Director of Head Start Collaboration; a representative of the State agency responsible for programs under section 619 or part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Act; a representative of the State agency responsible for health or mental health care; and representatives of other entities determined relevant by the Governor.
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