Speaker Paul Ryan visits Educare Tulsa

Speaker of the US House of Representatives Paul Ryan visited Educare Tulsa at Hawthorne on March 31 to tour classrooms and speak with a group of local early education leaders.

The school provides low-income families and their children with access to high-quality early childhood education and other important resources. Tulsa is home to three state-of-the-art Educare schools, serving more than 500 children and their parents with a range of educational and family engagement opportunities.

“Educare Tulsa, and programs like it, provide children with great educational opportunities,” said Speaker Ryan. “The future success of our country is dependent on the education of our children, and we must continue to look for innovative programs to increase access for all students. Educare Tulsa is a great example of the work that can be accomplished when public and private entities join forces to help families and their children.”

In February, Speaker Ryan and the House of Representative’s Task Force on Poverty, Opportunity, and Upward Mobility released their vision and mission statement, proposing early childhood education as a policy reform option for breaking the cycle of poverty and promoting upward mobility in America. Specifically, the task force has proposed strengthening federal and state coordination in early childhood education and providing families with a variety of options. Read more from the First Five Years Fund.

“The amount of education and meaningful interaction that a child receives in the first three years of his or her life is a direct indicator of their future success in school and in life,” said Caren Calhoun, executive director of Educare Tulsa. “In partnership with Early Head Start, Educare’s model of providing high-quality, year-round programming from bachelor-degreed teachers has been shown to be very successful in improving school readiness.”