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Bret Busse, Board member of the Foundation for Early Childhood Family Services, ISD 196, spoke before a Senate hearing on early childhood February 24, 2005 at the State capitol. Busse served as co-chair on the ECFS Advisory Council before joining the Foundation last June. His work in advocacy for ECFS and early childhood issues includes organizing a Town meeting and a Candidate Forum to raise awareness of ECFS and its programs at the legislative level, as well as the development of a legislative alert e-loop. The following is an excerpt from his speech before state legislators:
“My wife, Kate, and I started taking our daughter Claire, to ECFE classes four years ago when she was just a few months old. The education and opportunity to interact with other parents in the same situation were tremendous.
“After immediately benefiting from the program, I joined the district’s Advisory Council. I served three years, the last two as co-chair. My time on the Council was some of the most rewarding work I’ve ever done. I became intimately aware of the positive impact these programs have on all the families in our community and the loss we’re all feeling since they’ve been cut so severely.
“ECFE and School Readiness programs really are an investment in the community. Parents get better at being parents. Kids are better prepared for school and the rest of their lives. Parents get involved early and stay involved. Kids do better in school. Families meet other families facing the same challenges, and learn ways to overcome them. Everyone in the community wins.
“None of this is for families of a specific social or economic level. All families with young children need education and support to do one of the most difficult jobs we have. I have two bachelor’s degrees and an MBA, none of which prepared me for parenthood. I’ve had classes with lawyers and guys working two job s to make ends meet. We were all able to learn something from every discussion. The teachers bring so much to the table. Their training and all the research behind it provide answers to so many questions.
“Our district offers a variety of programs to meet the needs of our community -- from high intensity to lower intensity. Last week, I came up here with a group of immigrant families from our family school program to meet with our local representatives and senators. Their stories are amazing. One of the women, Lizeth, is from Mexico. She’s been in the program for a year and all the English she knows comes from her Family School classes. She gets up every day at 2:30 a.m. to deliver papers, then goes back to bed from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. Then she, her husband, and their two-year-old go to Family School together until lunch. Her husband then goes to work at night. They’re working on their GEDs and becoming citizens and both want to go to college. Id’ be willing to bet that family is working harder than anyone in this room. They can’t imagine life without Family School and I can’t imagine a better example of how worthwhile these programs are.”
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