Sen. Houck takes up another education post

By Allison Brophy Champion

Published: September 19, 2008

Sen. Edd Houck, D-Spotsylvania, was one of four state legislators selected last week to serve on the board of the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation: a relatively new public-private partnership providing grants, training and technical support for “Smart Beginnings” for children aged birth to 5.

Houck, who represents Culpeper, Louisa, Madison, Orange and parts of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania, spent decades working in public education and has served some 25 years in the statehouse, including current stints on a finance subcommittee on education and the Joint Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education Funding.

It was Houck’s educational experience and longtime advocacy for early childhood initiatives that made him “the obvious choice” to join the Early Childhood board, said chairman Paul Hirschbiel, president of Eden Capital in Virginia Beach.

“As you know, Sen. Houck has been a major proponent of early childhood initiatives within the Senate for many, many years,” he said Friday, “so he was an appropriate choice as well.”

Support for young children whether it be educational, proper nutrition or dental care — to name a few — is critical to ensuring a child’s success as an adult, Hirschbiel said.

Study after study shows children who enter kindergarten unprepared are most likely to fail later in life, he said, showing higher rates of drug abuse, teen pregnancy and incarceration.

“So not only is it the right thing to do to maximize the potential of each child, but it is an economic development imperative,” Hirschbiel said, noting that a child’s brain is fully developed by the age of 5.

Since its inception in 2005, the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation has awarded grants to 16 communities, including Orange County and the Fredericksburg area.

The group plans to add another six this fall. Localities applying for the grants must first have a local “leadership council” of business, government, civic and education leaders in place, Hirschbiel said.

“Most of those grants are about building the right systems for early childhood programs and putting the right people around the table,” he said.

This is the first time the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation tapped the state legislature for board representation.

“This is absolutely a nonpartisan issue,” Hirschbiel said, adding, “We in Virginia are behind a number of states on this issue.”

Virginia spends about $60 million per year on early childhood support, he said, mostly for the Virginia Preschool Initiative.

Hirschbiel said he hoped Sen. Houck would continue to serve on the Foundation board for many years to come.

Houck said he was honored by the appointment.

“Young children deserve the best start in life that we can provide so they enter school healthy and ready to learn,” he said. “We must advocate on behalf of our youngest and most vulnerable citizens as well as support their parents and early childhood providers.”

Sen. Kenneth Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, Del. Mamye BaCote, D-Newport News and Del. Philip Hamilton, R-Newport News were also appointed Wednesday to the Early Childhood board.

Allison Brophy Champion can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 101 or .