Thousands of low-and moderate-income children took a step closer to the preschool classroom with Wednesday night’s call for additional early childhood investment by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder in his State of the State address. Snyder noted that 29,000 children are eligible for the state’s Great Start Readiness Program, but can’t get in because there aren’t […]
Children's Leadership Council of Michigan
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: Snyder is right to invest in expanded early childhood programs
By Doug Luciani and Debbie Dingell/Children’s Leadership Council of Michigan As a former venture capitalist, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder knows much about how to calculate return on investment. Today, we applaud him for seeing the ROI in young children. In his State of the State Address, Snyder acknowledged Michigan has 29,000 4-year-olds eligible for public […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Bolger backs bigger dollars for early childhood
House Speaker Jase Bolger, freshly elected to a second term to head Michigan’s House of Representatives, added his voice Wednesday to a growing coalition of political leaders in favor of increased state spending on early childhood education. “We should expand early childhood education opportunities as investments to help kids succeed. Those investments also will provide […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Early childhood proposal draws media gaze
A coalition of business and community leaders announced the backing of 100 business leaders Wednesday for a plan to commit $130 million to insure that all eligible 4-year-olds in Michigan can attend half-day preschool. Research shows that as many as 38,000 eligible preschoolers are not receiving preschool services because of a lack of funds in […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Group wants surpluses spent on children
The Children’s Leadership Council of Michigan, a collection of business, nonprofit and educational groups, has some advice for the Legislature and Gov. Rick Snyder on using the projected surpluses from the 2011 fiscal year: Spend it on the kids. In a new letter (see full draft below), the group argues, “Viewing them as investment strategies, […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Invest in the 4-year-olds
Bridge Magazine’s parent organization, the Center for Michigan, takes quite seriously the challenge presented by the educational needs of the youngest Michiganians. It is a member of the Children’s Leadership Council of Michigan, which just helped organize two hearings (Sept. 28 and Oct. 5) before the House Education Committee. Tim Bartik of the Upjohn Institute […]