Groundwork Ohio this week announced the participation of Ohio legislative leaders and LeeAnne Cornyn, Director of the Governor’s Office of Children’s Initiatives, in the upcoming Laying the Groundwork: Early Childhood Awareness and Education Summit on May 8, 2019 at the Athletic Club of Columbus. Ohio Senate participation includes Majority Whip, Senator Jay Hottinger (R-Newark), as well as Minority Leader, Senator Kenny Yuko (D-Richmond Heights). Ohio House participation includes Finance Health and Human Services Subcommittee Chair, Representative Mark Romanchuk (R-Ontario) and Minority Leader, Representative Emilia Sykes (D-Akron). Groundwork Ohio’s Laying the Groundwork Summit will convene nearly 300 early childhood leaders from across the state to bring awareness to the importance of investments in early childhood education, especially evidence-based home visiting, high-quality child care and preschool. Participants will have the opportunity to meet directly with legislators to ask that they support investments in quality early education during the upcoming FY 20-21 budget. The esteemed bipartisan panel of policymakers joins Myra Jones-Taylor, Chief Policy Officer at ZERO TO THREE, the national leader on infant-toddler policy and program development, and David Melin, Dayton Regional President of PNC Bank, on a robust agenda curated to inform and mobilize early childhood stakeholders from across the state. We hope you will join us for this exciting day and help us bring awareness to the importance of investments in early childhood education and communicate this important information to our legislators. Space is filling up quickly so we encourage you to register ASAP to guarantee your spot. Please note that anyone who wishes to participate in a legislative meeting must register by noon on Friday, May 3rd.
In case you missed it... This week, we hosted a training webinar to prepare participants for our upcoming summit to most effectively advocate for Ohio's youngest learners. Whether you're joining us for the event or supporting this work in other ways, we hope you will check out the recording of this pre-summit webinar for updates on early childhood issues in the state budget, tips for effective messaging, and what to expect during a meeting with your legislator.
Senator Lehner Announces Ohio Legislative Children's Caucus
This Wednesday, Senator Peggy Lehner (R-Kettering) announced the creation of the Ohio Legislative Children's Caucus. The caucus is a bipartisan effort to prioritize Ohio's kids by focusing public policy and state funding to support proven strategies and identify innovative solutions to support Ohio's kids. The issues-based caucus will focus on improving the effectiveness and reach of policy designed to positively impact children from birth to age eighteen, seeking to:
Improve the lives of all children throughout Ohio.
Identify legislators who are willing to support policy and funding for Ohio's children.
Provide research and identify best practices, utilizing experts from around the country, to assist in identifying a plan of action.
Identify and develop multiple "generations" of legislative leaders willing to set long-term, multi-budget goals for children and implement those goals.
Groundwork, along with a strong coalition of child advocates through the Children's Budget Coalition, looks forward to serving as a resource for the Ohio Legislative Children's Caucus.
