Local educator participates in U.S. Senate briefing

Diane Addison has seen the benefits of early childhood education in Hannibal. On Wednesday, the Hannibal public schools’ early childhood director shared her observations during a congressional briefing in Washington, D.C.
“It was a great honor. It was a wonderful opportunity to promote the good early childhood things we have in Hannibal, not just Parents as Teachers but all the preschool programs,” said Addison, who was the only person from Missouri invited to participate in the briefing. “I’m serving on a state committee that’s looking at school readiness so it was a wonderful opportunity to talk just a little bit about some of the things happening in Missouri at the state level.”
In talking about Hannibal, Addison shared about the positive collaborations enjoyed by Parents as Teachers, Title I Pre-K, Early Childhood Special Ed, Head Start, Missouri Pre-school Project and local child-care providers.
“I talked about how we’re all trying to provide the best services we can for children and how we serve as many children as possible without double serving,” she said.
Addison was at the briefing at the invitation of Sens. Kit Bond and Hillary Rodham Clinton, who in 2007 introduced the Ready to Learn Act, which was designed to designed to help states create and strengthen current voluntary pre-kindergarten education programs.
“Lots of states in the United States have pre-school, but many do not,” said Addison. “The bill was trying to get Congressional funding so voluntary pre-school could be introduced in all the states.”
The bill did not pass.
No senators were in attendance at Wednesday’s hearing, according to Addison, noting that the lawmakers were involved in debate regarding the $700 billion financial industry bailout. The 1 1/2-hour briefing was well attended.
“They said at the briefings there might be 10 to 20 people, but at the one yesterday there was more than 100 and it was standing room only,” she said. “Early childhood is definitely a topic that the senators are very much interested in.”
While Bond was represented at the hearing by members of his staff, Addison and Sue Stepleton, president of the Parents as Teachers National Center, did have the opportunity to meet briefly with Missouri’s senior senator.
“He wanted to know about Parents as Teachers in Missouri,” said Addison. “He’s the father of it (Parents as Teachers) because he was our governor in 1984 when the legislation passed to do it, so it’s his baby. He very much loves the program.”