Governor's Early Care and Education
Advisory Council

The Governor's Early Childhood Advisory Council was announced in December, 2008. The Council is chaired by Department of Children and Families Secretary Reggie Bicha and State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tony Evers.

The Governor established the Council to help ensure that all families have access to quality early childhood programs and services.

"I want this state to be a place where our kids can grow up knowing that their highest ambitions are never out of reach," Governor Doyle said. "As I've said many times, the single most important thing we can do today to ensure a strong, successful future for Wisconsin is to invest in our kids early – because what we do now will determine exactly what kind of state Wisconsin will be 10, 20, even 50 years from now."

The Head Start Reauthorization Act of 2007 required the creation of a State Early Childhood Advisory Council. The council will build on the work of the Wisconsin Early Childhood Collaborating Partners (WECCP), the Children’s Trust Fund Board, the Partners for Wisconsin’s Economic Success, and the Governor’s Birth to Three Interagency Coordinating Council.

The Council's responsibilities include:

• Conducting a periodic statewide needs assessment concerning the quality and availability of early childhood education and development programs;
• Identifying opportunities for, and barriers to, collaboration and coordination among Federally-funded and State-funded child development, child care, and early childhood education programs and services;
• Developing recommendations for increasing the overall participation of children in existing Federal, State, and local child care and early childhood education programs, including outreach to underrepresented and special populations; and
• Developing recommendations regarding statewide professional development and career advancement plans for early childhood educators in the state.