Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR) speaks to the Arkansas Head Start Association Institute.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Good morning.
00:01 [APPLAUSE]
00:04 We might have to find an abbreviated version
00:07 of that bio, Jackie, to save you a little time next time.
00:10 It is such an honor to be here.
00:13 Good morning.
00:15 And thank you, Jackie, for the introduction.
00:18 It is such an honor to be here with so many advocates
00:22 and educators to kick off this year's Arkansas Head Start
00:26 Association.
00:28 Head Start is such a critical program
00:31 for young kids in Arkansas and around the country.
00:33 And we are so lucky that we have somebody
00:36 as dedicated, skilled, and qualified
00:40 as we do in Jackie to run our Head Start collaboration
00:44 office.
00:45 And she's not new to this business.
00:47 Jackie's been doing this for the past 12 years.
00:51 And every single day, she still brings
00:53 that same level of commitment and enthusiasm.
00:56 And we would not be here without you.
00:58 Thank you, Jackie, for the incredible work that you do.
01:02 Yeah.
01:03 [APPLAUSE]
01:07 I'll always pause for people like Jackie
01:10 to get a little bit of applause.
01:12 Certainly know they deserve that recognition.
01:15 Because anybody knows how committed
01:17 she is to making sure every Arkansas child receives
01:20 a quality early childhood education.
01:23 And that's why I'm proud to have her on my administration's
01:26 early childhood committee, where she's
01:28 helping us craft policies to bring
01:30 these resources to every single community across our state.
01:35 I'm excited to address this conference,
01:37 because I know how critical early childhood
01:39 education is to kids' future academic careers,
01:44 and frankly, to the entirety of their life.
01:47 Of course, study after study proves this important fact.
01:52 But I also know firsthand, as a mom of three kids,
01:57 as Jackie mentioned, I have three children, Scarlett,
01:59 Huck, and George.
02:01 They are 12, 10, and 9.
02:03 And so we are living the daily challenges of education
02:08 at our house every moment.
02:11 And I know how important it is for my own kids
02:14 to have that opportunity to socialize,
02:17 to get used to a classroom, and to take
02:19 the first steps on their journey through school
02:22 in those early moments of early childhood education.
02:25 And during the pandemic, when my kids were stuck at home,
02:29 I coordinated with my brother, and we started
02:31 our own little homeschool.
02:33 And we got to know a little more hands-on,
02:36 even than we wanted to, during that time,
02:39 just how important that foundational early education
02:42 was.
02:43 At the time, our kids ranged from second grade
02:45 all the way down to a two-year-old.
02:47 So it was a little bit chaotic at our homeschool.
02:50 I can't say that we gave the same level and quality
02:54 education that they were receiving in regular school.
02:57 But I can say we gave a lot more recess, and certainly
03:00 a lot more teacher appreciation days
03:02 during our homeschool period.
03:05 But more importantly, that experience
03:07 gave me great insight into what our teachers and early
03:10 childhood educators deal with every day,
03:13 and an even greater appreciation for the challenges
03:16 that they face in the classroom.
03:18 It's hard.
03:19 And you deserve the support you need
03:21 as you nurture and develop our most vulnerable kids
03:24 and families.
03:26 When we were working on the LEARNS Act,
03:28 we knew we wanted to put a focus on early childhood education.
03:32 And as we consulted with experts around the country,
03:35 the biggest problem we identified
03:37 was that the industry was incredibly siloed,
03:40 with wildly different standards across a variety of facilities.
03:45 Parents are blessed with the diversity of options,
03:48 with everything from mom and pop operators
03:51 all the way up to some of the biggest
03:53 institutions in the state.
03:55 But if those groups don't talk to each other
03:57 and establish some common standards,
04:00 parents won't know how to best serve their kids.
04:04 Of course, that's a big part of what you're doing here today,
04:07 meeting and learning from one another.
04:09 But Head Start shouldn't be the only ones in the state
04:12 doing it.
04:13 One of the provisions in LEARNS I'm most excited about
04:16 is called Local Leads.
04:18 And it's a laser focus on this issue.
04:21 Local Leads will identify gold standard early childhood
04:24 programs in every part of our state,
04:27 eventually reaching all 75 counties.
04:30 It will also help us find gaps in coverage
04:33 so we know where and how to best send additional resources.
04:38 When a new early childhood facility starts
04:41 or when a parent is looking where to send their kid,
04:43 they'll know the standard to set against every other institution.
04:48 Luckily, there is no shortage of gold standard early childhood
04:52 educators in Arkansas.
04:54 In fact, many of those educators are with us here
04:57 in the room today.
04:59 Head Start educators aren't just providing
05:01 some of the best early childhood education in our state
05:04 to more than 5,000 kids.
05:06 They're also doing it in our most at-risk communities
05:10 for our most at-risk kids.
05:13 When we're looking for models for Arkansas,
05:15 we don't need to look much further than what
05:17 you've built right here.
05:19 That's why I'm excited to be here today
05:21 to welcome you to Little Rock and for each of you
05:24 to continue to learn even more from one another
05:27 and become even better educators.
05:29 Above all, and most importantly, I am here to say thank you.
05:34 I know the job that you are doing each and every day
05:36 is not easy.
05:38 And I know the kids that you teach
05:40 often come from very difficult and challenging backgrounds.
05:44 But I also know the incredible impact
05:46 that you've created, not just in the day-to-day
05:49 for each of these kids, but for the rest of their lives.
05:53 So thank you for being here.
05:55 Thank you for the opportunity to address you here this morning.
05:58 And thank you for your work on behalf of all of Arkansans
06:01 and all of our kids.
06:03 God bless you, and I hope that you have a great time
06:05 here at this conference.
06:06 [APPLAUSE]
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