Communities working together

Last week I had the opportunity to listen to Geoffrey Canada, President and CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone in Harlem, NY. Canada came to Minnesota to speak at the Minnesota Meeting, hosted by the Minneapolis Foundation. Over 1,000 people attended and gave Mr. Canada a standing ovation. The event was covered in numerous local media including MinnPost, HomeTown Source and Twin Cities Daily Planet.

Following the luncheon, Mr. Canada addressed a special hearing of the House Education Policy committee who were joined by other interested members of the House and Senate.

What I found most inspiring is how a community can come together to make a difference in closing the achievement gap.

The HCZ is a non-profit organizing located in a 100-block section of Harlem, NY that is committed to educating all children, providing social-service and community building programs and breaking the cycle of poverty for families. It has been heralded as a model for education and community building by President Obama and has appeared on numerous national news programs.

The principles Mr. Canada bases his program upon are:

• Begin Early
• Provide continuous, high quality programming throughout the child’s educational experience
• Engage and empower parents
• Redesign schools with the success of each child in mind
• Build communities that support children and their learning
• Use clear and timely evaluation methods

Of course, Ready 4 K knows that beginning early is one of the keys to educational success. The HCZ takes it further to provide high quality educational opportunities and a supportive community all the way until the child graduates from college.

What’s happening in Minnesota (Northside Achievement Zone)

Inspired by a visit to the Harlem Children’s Zone in 2007, leaders in Minneapolis are creating the Northside Achievement Zone. The mission of NAZ:

“Resources and opportunities will be aligned in The Zone to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of all children (birth to 18 years) to promote educational achievement and life success.”

Projects that NAZ is working on include creating a NAZ-tested Seal of Approval for organizations providing high quality programs and collaboration in the Zone, establishing From the Northside to the Campus to prepare kids for success in college and life, and On the Block where neighbors will work together to support youth achievement.

500 under 5, a project working to reach 500 children under aged 5 and their families on the Northside and engage them in early learning opportunities, is part of NAZ.

The Harlem Children’s Zone is an incredible project and Geoffrey Canada brought great enthusiasm to Minnesota. Building on the lessons learned by NAZ on the Northside, we can work together to create a state where all children succeed and supported by their communities.

Early Childhood gaining momentum in Congress

While we here in Minnesota have been working hard to promote policies in our state legislature, early childhood issues are getting attention on the federal level. Sen. Clinton (NY) announced a pre-kindergarten proposal last month as part of her presidential campaign. This proposal would give $10 billion to give every 4-year old access to a pre-kindergarten experience. Currently, Sen. Clinton is drafting a bill to introduce later this year based on her proposal.

Also, Sen. Casey (PA) has introduced a bill, S. 1374, known as the "Prepare All Kids Act of 2007". From the bill summary, this act will assist states in making voluntary high quality full-day pre-kindergarten programs available and economically affordable for the families of all children for at least 1 year preceding kindergarten. The bill includes funds for infant and toddler programs, extended day and extended year programs, as well as eligibility for community-based programs such as Head Start and child care. Read Sen. Casey's remarks for more detail.

After you'd had a chance to read the bill, I'd love to read your comments. What do you think about the idea? How could it work in Minnesota?