Carol Shattuck, the president and CEO of Collaborative for Children is one of the special guests on this week’s Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall as the topic focuses on education in Houston.
Shattuck said getting an early start is the most important part of education, but, “It’s the part of our education system that really, with so many moms and dads working and are not at home with their young children. It’s on the backs of our parents to pay for that and so we don’t fund it to the same way we fund public education.”
Scott McClelland is well known to Houstonians as the front man for HEB grocery stores, but in addition to his duties as president of the Houston Division of HEB, McClelland is also a strong advocate for education. As a leader in the Greater Houston Partnership’s Early Matters program that focuses on making early childhood education available for all communities, McClelland said the impact is particularly evident among poor children.
“When they enter kindergarten, they are fully a year behind middle income and high income children -- when they start kindergarten,” he said. “Typically, you think of kindergarten as being the starting line, and you see these kids starting kindergarten that are behind already.”
Mandi Sheridan Kimball is the director of Public Policy and Government Affairs at Children at Risk, a non-profit that focuses on not only Public Education, but also on human trafficking, health and nutrition, parenting and the state Legislature . She said making quality early education available is one thing, paying for it is another issue.
“When we have nearly 50 percent of children living in low income families. How are these parents able to afford these quality programs?” she said.
There are great discussion about the educational issues facing our communities on this week’s Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall.
Watch Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall every Sunday morning at 10 a.m. right after "Meet the Press" on KPRC Channel 2 News.
More Information:
- Carol Shattuck, President/CEO Collaborative for Children, 713-600-1100, www.collabforchildren.org
- Scott McClelland, President Houston Division H-E-B, 281-364-5200, www.heb.com
- Mandi Sheridan Kimball, CHILDREN AT RISK, Director Public Policy & Government Affairs, 713-869-7740, www.childrenatrisk.org