Kids First: Five Big Ideas for Transforming Children’s Lives and America’s Future (Book event)
“Family values” and “building for the next generation” feature prominently in political speeches and campaign promises, but not so much in the actual allocation of resources in America. Children in the United States remain poorer than their counterparts in other developed countries. The share of federal and state budgets invested in children and early education, already too low to provide even basic supports for many, continues to fall.
If we are to become a nation that truly values families and allows our next generations to fulfill their tremendous potential, we must put kids first by building the “villages” that enable parents and communities to do so. That is the premise of the new book by Berkeley professor of public policy David Kirp.
Kirp has proposed a Promise Neighborhood type set of policies that: support healthier births and infancy, enrich preschools, ensure transitions to stronger elementary schools, build strong relationships with adults, and provide viable path to careers and college. Kirp will discuss his book, Kids First, and its policy implications, including its relationship to A Broader, Bolder Approach to Education, with Rob Dugger, a Northern Virginia hedge fund manager and Chairman of the Partnership for America’s Economic Success Advisory Board, who has made prioritizing children through policy and budget choices his top priority.
Space is limited. To join the conversation with David Kirp, rsvp to Elaine Weiss, BBA National Coordinator, at eweiss@epi.org.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Registration begins at 9:30 a.m.
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon
Economic Policy Institute
1333 H St. NW
Suite 300
Washington, DC 20005