Governor Makes “Hard Push” for Early Education

By Wendy Osher

Governor Neil Abercrombie announced plans for a “hard push” for early education priorities in the upcoming legislative session.  The ambitions for Early Childhood Education reform comes after word that the state was not selected as a recipient of the national “Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge” grant competition.

“We certainly could have used those funds to supplement our efforts in pushing the Plan’s initiatives,” said Governor Abercrombie, “Yet, thanks to their efforts we now have an ambitious state plan for Early Childhood Education reform.”

Governor Abercrombie commended Early Childhood Coordinator Terry Lock and her team for their work on the Plan and the grant application.

“Through this process, partnerships between state agencies, and private and public sectors have been strengthened around a unified framework,” said Lock.  “This state plan will be the guide for building a stronger quality early care and education system for our youngest keiki, especially those with high needs, and their families.”

The next step will be to  review feedback and refine the Early Childhood Education State Plan.

The Plan that was submitted to the Obama Administration identifies five critical areas of reform in the state of Hawai’i including:

• Enhancing the integration and coordination of programs, policies, and services.
• Designing and implementing a tiered quality rating and improvement system based on demanding statewide program standards.
• Improving early learning and development outcomes, with a focus on children with high needs.
• Enhancing the size and quality of the early childhood education workforce, and
• Measuring outcomes and progress.

“There is no more important work than ensuring that all of Hawai’i’s keiki are ready to succeed in school and compete in a global society,” said Lock.

“Regardless of the outcome, this application has resulted in a very viable roadmap for a successful early childhood system,” said Senator Jill Tokuda, State Senate Education Committee Chair.  “This was a unique opportunity to quickly come together as an early childhood community and define what it is that we want for our youngest of students and identify how we must work together to get there,” she said.

***Supporting information courtesy State of Hawaii, Office of the Governor.