Senator Addresses Education, Praises N.C.

Kennedy serves as chairman of the Senate Education Committee and worked closely with President Bush on the No Child Left Behind Act, a bipartisan education reform law.

The law, which passed in January, requires -- among other things -- mandatory testing for school children nationwide.

Kennedy said he is particularly focused on improving pre-kindergarten educational programs.

"Sciences have reflected the importance of children's learning in the early five years," he said. "Before kindergarten is shown to be the most important part of child development."

Kennedy said he decided to visit North Carolina because the state has demonstrated itself as a leader in education, and he wanted to take a closer look at the state's education programs.

"What we can find out is what is working here," he said. "When you look at a list of well-qualified teachers, North Carolina has led the country in making sure there are qualified teachers in every class. North Carolina students are making more rapid progress than students in any other part of the nation."

The meeting consisted of a series of round-table discussions highlighting teacher development and early childhood education, with representatives of educational programs giving their input to Kennedy.

Molly Broad, president of the UNC system, emphasized the importance of developing high quality teachers. "We are building partnerships with community colleges and working on the professional development of teachers from their first day to the day they retire," she said.

The officials pointed to many state programs established to further the education of residents, including the N.C. Teaching Fellows Program. The program funds college scholarships for four years for students who plan to become in-state teachers.

JoAnn Norris, associate executive director of the program, said 400 out of more than 2,000 applicants were selected this year for scholarships.

Norris said there are many benefits to the programs. "Teaching Fellows are in a school by second semester learning about the culture of schooling," she said. "This is the strongest advantage of preparation. They have four years of college to learn about it. They have to be adapted to teach the skills."

Don Bailey, director of the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, said many students are not adequately prepared for kindergarten. "Unfortunately these (unprepared) children are predominantly poor and from ethnic minority groups," he said. "They come out of a home environment of poor quality."

Carmen Hooker Odom, secretary of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, said the problem could be eased through cooperation between different state agencies and additional funding to support child-care programs.

"We need to relax regulations to enable flexibility and to be able to blend the money," she said.

Karen Ponder, director of the N.C. Partnership for Children, said it is important for local community members to play an active role in education.

"The main thing is when you allow a local community to look at needs," Ponder said. "They bring to that much more than we can ever solve at a state level. The brilliance is in the state oversight and local decision-making."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.