The Early to Rise Plan will create a dedicated funding stream for improving the quality of our area’s early childhood education by levying a 1 penny tax increase per $100 of home value.

This small increase would yield an estimated $25 million dollars that would be used exclusively to provide training and assistance to pre-school programs and parents to help young children arrive at kindergarten motivated, curious and excited about school. Early to Rise will:

• Raise the quality of pre-school programs
• Improve training for child care providers
• Provide parenting support
• Support teacher training and development
• Supply equipment to expand learning opportunities

The additional revenues will be overseen by the Harris County School Readiness Corporation, a public/ private partnership board headed by James Calaway, Chairman of the Board of the Center for Houston’s Future.

Also serving on the board is Houston’s Former First Lady, Mrs. Andrea White, as well as Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell of Windsor Village United Methodist Church, Mr. Jonathan Day former Houston City Attorney and civic leader, leading Houston businessman Mr. Lupe Fraga, Ms. Y. Ping Sun, and Ms. Laura Jaramillo Senior Vice President of Wells Fargo.

Harris County School Readiness Corporation Board of Directors