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Friday, September 6, 2013:

The Early to Rise Campaign respectfully accepts the opinion of the 14th Court of Appeals. As this chapter in our region's education policy comes to a close, we are deeply saddened by the impact this decision will have on thousands of pre-school children in Harris County.

"In HISD, the largest school district in Harris County, children are assessed upon entry into Pre-Kindergarten. Over half of these students fall below the standard level for basic letter recognition and three-quarters do not know their primary numbers. The challenge is self-evident," said James Calaway, Chairman of the Early to Rise campaign.

This effort to improve early childhood education enjoyed the support of our civic, business, educational, and religious leadership, as well as more than 150,000 area residents who signed the petition to place this item on the November ballot.

We sincerely appreciate the hard work of the many, many fine individuals and organizations who supported this effort. It is their determination that gives us a sense of hope and we are renewed in our commitment to see improved early childhood education in Harris County.

Friday, August 16, 2013:
Today, the Harris County School Readiness Corporation submitted a draft services agreement to the Harris County Department of Education for review prior to the agreement's consideration at the August 20, 2013 HCDE Board workshop. As we have said from the beginning, this agreement creates a governance and operational structure that is fair, transparent and accountable to the public, and that serves the best interests of both Harris County children and taxpayers. We look forward to a thorough discussion of the agreement at the August 20th workshop.