Extracted text

OCR Page 1 of 63
Copyright 1998 The Kansas City Star Co. THE KANSAS CITY STAR January 24, 1998 Saturday METROPOLITAN EDITION SECTION: METROPOLITAN; Pg. C2; Q QUESTIONS LENGTH: 602 words HEADLINE: Child-care proposal analyzed BYLINE: DONALD BRADLEY, Staff Writer BODY: Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan last week announced a $ 56 million initiative to overhaul the state's child-care system. Sending 3- and 4-year-olds to prekindergarten in public schools topped the wish list. The plan also called for developmental screening for toddlers and intense background checks for child-care providers and teachers. Many of the proposals came from recommendations of the Governor's Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education, led by Joe Moseley, a former state senator from Columbia. Moseley discussed the commission's effort. Q: Missouri has long been criticized for its seemingly lax child-care policies. Where does this initiative put Missouri nationally in terms of how society deals with children? A: We looked at a lot of other states to see what they were doing with child care. We found some good things to consider and some things that just didn't seem to be working. But if the bulk of this plan becomes law and policy, it would put Missouri in the top five or six states in the country. Q: What did the governor talk about when he asked you to head this commission? A: He told me about this new brain research that proves the importance of the first five years of life how those years affect what a person becomes as he or she grows. The governor is very big on education, but he was worried about