Quad Cities Area Early Childhood Coalition Meeting
1:30 p.m., Thursday, January 14, Merritt Elementary School, Mountain Iron
Agenda: Continued planning of the spring literacy event.
Hostess: Jodie Phaneuf
Come join us to learn more about the coalition!
Disability Matters
Share your story with your Iron Range Legislators and the Capitol!
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 5:30 PM
Rustic Rock Chop House
301 Hat Trick Avenue, Eveleth
Hors d’oeuvres will be served
Let your legislators know how their work in St. Paul affects Iron Range children and adults with disabilities. Hear what they think will be happening in the new session. The economic downturn will not be going away soon and legislators will have to make some tough choices.
We need to help them by providing useful information. Come and share:
• Success Stories; Many community services can, and do, work!
• Your ideas for cost savings and/or getting rid of red tape
• The programs that you can’t live without
• The economic impact of community-based services and the jobs provided in communities all over
the Range
• What’s working in Education, and how Special Education funding and programs affect you and your
family
• What Personal Care Attendant cuts mean to your family
• The effect of waiting lists
• Your issues with Health and Dental Care
If possible, please come with your stories written, so our legislators can take your words back to St. Paul. Share the circumstances of your needs, describe services and how they are funded, the consequences or impact of losing services or funding, and describe possible solutions.
The event is free, but you must REGISTER in order to attend.
CALL Diane at 218-750-1251 to register.
Sponsored by the Northland Intervention Interagency Committee (NIIC) and Arc Range Chapter. Print and distribute the flyer!
Community Dialogues on the Virginia Greenhouse …come be a voice for our children!
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
1:00pm - 2:30pm
Mesabi College-Virginia Campus, Commons area
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
6:30pm - 8:00pm
Miner’s Memorial Building
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
11:00am - 1:00pm
Virginia Public Library Auditorium
Community Dialogues on the
University of MN Partnership Feasibility Study: the Virginia Greenhouse
(CAUTION: This is a very large, 26MB file.)
We are seeking input, resources and creative ideas from all citizens about potential & new long-term sustainable uses for the Virginia Greenhouse. We will also discuss the current feasibility study and goals. See you there!!
Hosted by Virginia City Councilor Nevada Littlewolf & Virginia Park and Recreation Director John Bachman in partnership with the City of Virginia, the Virginia Sustainability Task Force, the Friends of the Greenhouse, and the NE MN Sustainability Partnership.
Northland Women’s Policy Forum
Saturday, November 7, noon to 5:00 p.m. at Mesabi Range College, Eveleth Campus
…Print and distribute the flyer!
The Northland Women’s Policy Forum is a gathering designed to bring together policy makers, community leaders, advocates, and all those interested learning more about the intersection of women and public policy.
Guests include: Amy Brenengen, Office on the Economic Status of Women; Deb Fitzpatrick, Center on Women and Public Policy, Humphrey institute; Deborah Schlick, Affirmative Options Coalition; Suzanne Koepplinger, Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center; Kathleen Murphy, Constitutional Amendment For Equality (CAFE)
AGENDA
12:00 Registration and Lunch
12:30 The Status of Women in Minnesota: The 10,000 foot perspective
1:30 The Status of Women in Minnesota: The “on the ground” perspective (Panel Discussion)
2:30 Facilitated Roundtable Discussions – Three 30‐minute discussions centered around: Economic Justice/Disparities for Women; “What exactly is Policy?”; Around the Kitchen Table – What women’s issues are we talking about around the table that didn’t get mentioned here?
4:00 Women in Public Office
4:30 Interactive Discussion with Elected Officials including State Representative Tom Rukavina; St. Louis County Commissioner Peg Sweeney; City Councilors Nevada Littlewolf and Liz Kuoppala
5:00 Dessert Networking Reception
For more information, email womensforum09@gmail.com or call 1-800-662-5711 ext 423
Sponsored by: Office on the Economic Status of Women; Rural Women’s Leadership Project; The White House Project; Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, Mesabi Range College; Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency; Blandin Foundation; the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota
September 2009 - Children’s Defense Fund - Minnesota 2009 Kids Count Data book Released
According to this research, 140,000 children in Minnesota lived in poverty in 2008 - an increase of more than 20% from 2000. These numbers do not include any additional families that may have fallen into poverty due to the current economic recession. CDF estimates that an additional 44,000 - 56,000 children could now be counted as living in poverty.
KIDS COUNT Fact Sheet
Losing Ground:
• 11 percent of Minnesota’s children lived in poverty in 2008.
• 24 percent of Asian children in Minnesota live below the poverty level in 2007, the worst among all 32 states participating in KIDS COUNT with enough Asian children to produce reliable estimates.
• 88,000 Minnesota children did not have health care coverage in 2008, an increase from 2007.
• 270,247 (33 percent) Minnesota children received free/reduced price lunch during the 2008-2009 school year.
Gaining Ground:
• Students dropping out of school has declined 57 percent since 2000.
• 6,277 children were abused and neglected, a 33 percent decrease from 2002.
• 10,895 children were arrested for a serious crime, down from 15,398 in 2000.
Poverty is a significant predictor for a child’s future success in school and in life. Without investments in the early years to lay a solid foundation, these children will struggle to become our future leaders.
Attend the KIDS COUNT Coffee in Grand Rapids, October 28!
2:00 - 3:30 p.m. Blandin Foundation 100 North Pokegama Ave.
Take Action Today! US House to Vote on Early Learning this Week!
From Ready 4 K
This week, Congress is going to vote on the most major piece of federal early care and education legislation in almost a decade. The Early Learning Challenge Fund, included in H.R. 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009, would support critical quality improvements for young children.
The legislation would provide $1 billion a year for eight years to states to develop and enhance high-quality early learning opportunities for all young children, especially those at-risk of not coming to school ready to learn.
This bill, paired with existing supports for current providers, sends a strong signal about the need to invest in comprehensive initiatives at the state level to increase the quality of early learning programs to ensure that children succeed. The bill will also create federal partnerships to help improve the quality of early care and education programs for children from birth to five in all educational settings.
What you can do
Please e-mail and call your US Representative today and urge them to:
Support the Early Learning Challenge Fund included in H.R. 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009. This bill supports critical quality improvements so that young children are prepared for school. It will give states like Minnesota the support we need to deliver high quality early learning programming for young children. Please support the Early Learning Challenge fund in H.R. 3221.
Find your U.S. Representative.
Deadline for responding: Please take action by Thursday, September 17, 2009.
Additional note: On September 11, the OECD (a source of international comparisons among developed nations) released the United States Country Highlights from it’s larger January, 2009 report on “Doing Better for Children” with the following information: “In spite of the United States being a very high income country, in key outcomes of health, education and poverty, US children do less well than their peers in other, less rich countries,” calling on the United States to increase its public investment in early learning (Full Report).
K-12 Education Forum with U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s staff
7 p.m., Monday, May 4, Virginia High School, 411 South 5th St, Virginia, MN
Public input requested on NCLB reauthorization
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s staff is holding K-12 Education Forums throughout Minnesota to hear from educators, parents, administrators and community members about education reform and their views on the federal No Child Left Behind law, which is up for reauthorization by Congress this year. Klobuchar wants to know what education reforms at the federal level would best serve Minnesota schools and their students.
Learn more about NCLB and it’s impacts in Minnesota from Parents United.
Unable to attend?
Submit suggestions and find out the dates and locations of future forums by visiting Senator Klobuchar’s webpage on education reform.
Please support this playing field — we got nominated!
Greetings Friends!
You may remember showing your support of our YMCA Field Project last month. Thank you so much! We got nominated! It’s now time to vote for our field so we can hopefully be chosen.
The link is below. You can follow the directions. There is also information posted by our Sports Director explaining the need if this is your first time into the site …thanks so much for your support!
Nancy Henderson-Korpi, Executive Director
Mesabi Family YMCA
admin@mesabiymca.com
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The Mesabi Family YMCA is participating in the Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes Plant A Seed fundraiser to improve and expand the outdoor playing field used for Iron Range Youth Spring and Fall Soccer, T-Ball, Summer Camp and other YMCA programs. Click on Tony the Tiger to show your support for the Mesabi Family YMCA soccer field project or visit frostedflakes.com for tips and tools to help spread the word! |
April 22, 2009 - Action Alert: Early Childhood Bill to be Heard in the House
From Ready 4 K — Call the Capitol Today!
A major piece of Early Care and Education legislation will be voted on by the full House this Thursday, and your legislators need to hear from you!
Background:
HF 2088, the Omnibus Early Childhood Bill, takes important steps towards creating an effective early childhood system, beginning to put in place the kinds of policies that will ensure that all Minnesota children are ready for kindergarten by 2020.
Recognizing the sizable return on investment the state gets by investing in early care and education, HF 2088 includes no cuts to funding for early education and child care programs in MDE and DHS. It increases access to quality early learning, promotes quality across the system, supports parents in their critical role as their children’s first and most important teachers, and builds system supports.
Specifically, the House Omnibus Early Childhood Bill:
* Moves forward in establishing a quality rating system and common quality standards
* Creates a Director of Early Learning to coordinate state departments and funding for early care and eductaion.
* Uses federal stimulus dollars to enhance access and affordability by increasing funding for child care assistance
* Specifies that quality set-aside dollars in the federal stimulus package should be used to continue Family Friend and Neighbor Grants, fund quality improvements, and continue the Parent Aware QRS pilot.
For a more detailed analysis of the bill, including how it it compares to other proposals, check out Ready 4 K’s Omnibus Bill Tracker.
Solution:
We know that investing in high quality early care and education is one of the best investments the state can make, and House File 2088 increases access to quality early learning, promotes quality across the system, supports parents in their critical role as their children’s first and most important teachers, and builds system supports. Please support House File 2088.
Action Needed:
Contact your legislator and urge them to support House File 2088, the Omnibus Early Childhood Bill.
Please take action by Thursday, April 23, 2009.
Side-by-Side Comparison of Omnibus Bills on Early Care and Education
Child Abuse Prevention Month Coffee and Celebration
Please join us for coffee and refreshments to learn more about child abuse prevention. You are welcome to attend our Interdisciplinary Child Protection Team meeting from 2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. immediately following. For further information, please call Melissa at 749-9740 or Denise at 742-9595.
Date: 2009-04-27
Time: 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
Location: 307 1st Street South, Virginia, 3rd Floor, Liz Prebich Room