Fred Washington, chairman, Beaufort County Board of Education: An open letter to General Assembly members : Beaufort Tribune.com

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Fred Washington, chairman, Beaufort County Board of Education: An open letter to General Assembly members

An open letter to General Assembly members

The following is a open letter released today, February 3, 2010, by Fred Washington, chairman, Beaufort County Board of education to the members of the South Carolina General Assembly. Because of its importance in focusing attention on the dire need in our society to care for at-risk children beginning at age zero, we are publishing his letter verbatim in full:

I do not envy you and the challenges you face in governing our state during these difficult economic times. In a newspaper column published the first of the New Year, President Pro Tempore McConnell, Speaker Harrell, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Leatherman and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Cooper wrote, “As legislative leaders, we are responsible for the financial health of South Carolina’s state government, ….it is essential that we take proper steps and make the needed reforms to maintain our state’s credit worthiness.”

You are to be commended for that position and your pursuit of necessary financial reforms. I would like to urge you to initiate a fundamental service delivery reform to address that part of Circuit Judge Thomas W. Cooper, Jr.’s 2005 ruling that the state needed “to do more to prepare children for kindergarten”. I am convinced that this can and must be accomplished with primarily existing resources.

To prepare our children, particularly those deemed at-risk, preparation must begin at age zero and continue until they enter our public K-12 system. No, I am not suggesting a new pre-pre-K (3 yr. old), 2 yr. or 1 yr. old government sponsored program. What I seriously recommend is:

To have state agencies that serve at-risk children and their families reform/tweak their message and encounters to include research base, proven good parenting practices that enhance early brain and behavioral development. These agencies include the Departments of Health and Human Services; Health & Environmental Control; Alcohol & Other Drug Abuse Services; Disabilities & Special Needs; Mental Health; Social Services; Education; as well as Clemson Extension and First Steps.
To reactivate/rejuvenate/reform the state Human Services Coordinating Council, with a more focused purpose of collaborating to maximize quality of life outcomes with available resources.

I further recommend that the resulting reform/tweak messages of these agencies include elements/objectives like those of Triple P (Positive Parenting Program), which is based in South Carolina at USC-Columbia:

Enhancing the competence, resourcefulness, and self-sufficiency of parents in rearing their children.
Reducing the incidence of child abuse, behavioral and emotional problems in childhood and adolescence, delinquency and substance abuse, and academic failure.
Promoting the development, growth, health, and social competence of young children in particular.
Promoting the development of non-violent, protective, and nurturing environments for children.
Promoting the independence and health of families through the enhancement of parents’ knowledge, skills, and confidence.

The State Department of Education should be included in the development of these state agency message reforms. These reform messages, with an emphasis on early learning preparation, can be incorporated into South Carolina’s recently submitted Race to the Top grant application and could become a national model.

All of the above can be accomplished with existing resources, but there must be the will to do it. There will be resistance and this will not be easy. You can count on the support of many, including me. However, leadership from you can make it happen.

Sincerely,

Fred S. Washington, Jr., Chairman, Beaufort County Board of Education

Cc: Governor Mark Sanford
Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer
Dr. Jim Rex, State Superintendent of Education

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