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EPIC's First Email Newsletter
Greetings!
Welcome to first edition of EPIC Email News. Each month, we'll share with you the work EPIC is doing for young children in Colorado. We'll also link to articles of interest, and include a list of upcoming events. Please feel free to forward this to a friend, or email us and let us know what you would like to see included in future newsletters. Thank you for your interest in making sure all kids in Colorado start school ready to learn! Sincerely, Travis Gasper Director, EPIC |
Business Leaders Write to Sen. Bennet
This Spring, the Senate Education Committee held hearings on reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Colorado Senator Michael Bennet sits on the Committee, and received a letter from Colorado business leaders encouraging a greater focus on pre-kindergarten in the legislation. Click here to see the letter sent to Sen. Bennet by business leaders.
Currently, the planned legislation does not include a focus on the importance of early education, a critical component of any education reform efforts.When the Senate Committee held a hearing on May 25 on the topic of early education, Sen. Bennet attended the entire time and asked good questions on early childhood education.
For a recap of the hearing, click here.
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CEO Spotlight  by Patrick H. Hamill President and CEO Oakwood Homes
My
passion beyond my homebuilding business interests and being a
community developer has always been education. When we look at community, education is the most important
community amenity. When one looks
at our education system, very little has changed over the past 75 years on how
we deliver education. When you
look at various changes that have occurred to the family over this time frame,
we experienced many impacts to our school system that have affected education
quality for all of our children; single parent households, both parents
working, multiple caregivers, divorce and English as a second language to name
a few. If we knew then what we
know now we would have 100% public funding for prenatal education and E.C.E.
funding from birth through age five.
When this happens over time we will spend less money on prisons, alcohol
treatment and crime will drop. Let
alone the long-term positive impact society will have from the impact of tax
paying citizens of our State.
Early childhood education should be our number one priority on turning
around Colorado's education system!
Click here to read more.
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Claim Your Tax Credit for Supporting Kids!
Did you know you can get a 50% state income tax credit for donations you may already be making to support child care in your community? The Colorado Child Care Contribution Tax Credit allows individuals and business who pay state income tax to get a 50% tax credit for monetary contributions used to promote child care. This includes donations to licensed child care centers, residential child care facilities, and programs that assist parents with child care information and referral services. When combined with federal and state charitable deductions, your after tax cost of a $1,000 gift can be as low as $327, depending on your tax bracket.
Click here to visit ColoradoKidsTaxCredit.org for more info!
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2010 Legislative Session
If you picked up the newspaper or watched TV since January, you know that legislation coming out of the Colorado General Assembly this session made headlines.
At EPIC, we focused on one piece of legislation - SB195, which created the Colorado Early Childhood Leadership Commission. Click here for a fact sheet on SB195.
The Commission, which includes CEO Roundtable Members Greg Anton, Brad Busse, and Pat Hamill as co-chair, and Executive Committee member Chris Watney, is charged with aligning and streamlining services across the early childhood system. Itwill also work to create a data system that shares information between the five agencies that administer early childhood programs. SB195 passed the House and Senate and was signed by Lt. Gov. Barbara O'Brien on June 3, 2010.
As
legislators and supporters look on, Lt. Gov. Barbara O'Brien signs
SB195 with a little help.  | For a complete summary on the "Winners and Losers" of the 2010 session from the Denver Post, click here. [PDF]
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Did you know...
If a child's body grew as fast as his or her brain, by age one a child would weigh 170 lbs.!
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News Clips Study sees gains in good child careWall Street JournalMay 14, 2010 Good child care is good for business, group saysThe GazetteMay 18, 2010 Group links 4th-grade reading proficiency, national successUSA TodayMay 18, 2010 Bleak reading performance stats spur push to teach early Denver PostMay 19, 2010 Colorado gets $17.4 million grant for data system to track student progressDenver PostMay 22, 2010 The new poor - Lack of aid for child care pushes some to welfareNew York TimesMay 23, 2010 Only kids can fix this economyHuffington Post
May 26, 2010 Formula for Success: Adding High-Quality Pre-K to State School Funding FormulasPew Charitable Trusts
May 27, 2010 Race to the Top, round 2: Colorado touts push for improvementDenver PostJune 2, 2010 |
Upcoming Events

August 2010 - 2nd Annual Business Leader Luncheon, exact date TBD
September 2010 - Forum with gubernatorial candidates on children's issues, exact date TBD
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CEO Roundtable Members
Greg Anton Partner Anton
Collins Mitchell LLP Brad Busse President RBC
Daniels Katherine Gold President Gold
Bug, Inc. Patrick H. Hamill President and CEO Oakwood
Homes Donna Lynne President Kaiser
Permanente Colorado David Merage Principal Consolidated
Investment Group Dan Ritchie Chairman and CEO Denver
Center for the Performing Arts
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