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Toledo Mayor Wade
Kapszukiewicz and ProMedica CEO and President Randy Oostra
announced the creation of a leadership team whose members
will implement Toledo’s forthcoming pre-kindergarten
education program. During a press conference on Friday,
February 22, the mayor said the leadership team, comprised
of representatives from six groups, will implement an
educational program that the community “has been thinking
about, considering and studying” for a number of years.
“We don’t need any more
studies or task forces,” said Kapszukiewicz. “It is time to
act.”
The leadership team will
be comprised of individuals from the City of Toledo,
ProMedica, United Way, the Toledo Community Foundation,
Toledo Public Schools and Washington Local Schools. The team
has already begun meeting; the most recent gathering was on
February 25. Along with the six leadership team
representatives, the committee will consist of people from
“a diverse variety of 30 organizations” who will meet
monthly, said Kapszukiewicz. The working group includes the
University of Toledo, the Anderson Foundation, the YMCA, the
YWCA, Huntington Bank, the Toledo Lucas County Public
Library, Lucas County Children Services, along with
religious community leaders, including the Catholic Diocese
of Toledo.
“This is the group that’s
going to figure out how to do it,” said the mayor.
“Access to high-quality
preschool programs is a critical indicator and influencer of
a child’s future educational success and health outcomes,”
said Oostra. “We are pleased the ProMedica Ebeid
Neighborhood Promise is able to support this collaborative
effort to make early childhood education available to all
our city’s children.
“Today is about the
future,” said Oostra. “Today is about making an investment
for the next generation.”
ProMedica and the Toledo
Community Foundation have provided funding for two
consultants for six months – experts who will perform
assessments of the community in order to determine the best
modal to recommend to the working group based on data and a
budget analysis. The two consultants – Linda Dunphy and
Andrew Brodsky, PhD – will finish their report in June.
Dunphy has 25 years
experience in leading, developing and advancing high impact
business and organizational approaches for early
childhood/family services on the national, state, regional
and local level. Brodsky is a research consultant
specializing in early childhood finance, evaluation and
policy; he has worked with partners across the nation to
help expand and improve systems and programs for young
children.
“This is an exciting day,”
said TPS Superintendent Romules Durant, EdD. “This is an
economic revitalization program,” he said of the impact that
early childhood education will have on the community. “You
will do better in Toledo because we believe in early
childhood education.”
“This initiative is going
to change education in Toledo,” said Susan Hayward,
Washington Local Schools superintendent. “We are so excited
in Washington Local for our kids to have this opportunity.”
One aspect of the program
is to include all prekindergarten providers in the community
discussion, however, the mayor emphasized that quality
education is the primary goal. “My goal is not to prop up
someone’s small business,” sadi Kapszukiewicz. “My goal is
to make sure kids get educated.”
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