On Tuesday, May 6th, Mayor Martin J. Walsh named State Senator Linda Dorcena Forry to his Universal Pre-Kindergarten Advisory Committee.
The advisory committee is tasked with recommending a city-wide action plan to double the enrollment of four-year olds in high quality, full-day pre-kindergarten programs by 2018.
The Universal Pre-Kindergarten Advisory Committee will explore a multitude of factors, such as funding requirements, potential partnerships and class space requirements to name a few, in creating their action plan for the expansion of full-day pre-kindergarten programs.
“I’m thrilled to join in Mayor Walsh’s efforts to examine and improve access to pre-kindergarten programs which have proven to be an integral part of a child’s educational development,” said Senator Linda Dorcena Forry. “As the mother of four school aged children, I know first-hand the importance early education can make in the life of a child,” Forry continued. “Research shows that early childhood programs with trained teachers provide a strong learning foundation that leads to increased academic achievement including higher MCAS scores and reduces the achievement gap between students by third grade.”
The Universal Pre-Kindergarten Advisory Committee, made up of 27 members from the education, government, business and non-profit fields, will make its recommendation for a mixed delivery system to Mayor Walsh in November 2014 after holding a series of stakeholder focus groups across the City and offering online surveys to collect information about the needs of all of the City of Boston’s neighborhoods for pre-kindergarten programming.
Senator Dorcena Forry represents South Boston, Dorchester, Mattapan and Hyde Park.
