GO KIDS Articles

Excerpt from Governor Rick Perry’s State-of-the-State Address
February 6, 2007

“...That's why my budget invests an additional $80 million to expand the "Early Start" pre-K program that uses pioneering techniques to improve learning among our youngest at-risk students.

Perhaps no student population is at greater risk than the children of prisoners. 70 percent are destined to follow a parent's path behind bars if no one intervenes. This is a national tragedy. We must break up the generational cycle of incarceration. That is why Texas was the first state to offer a statewide grant for the Amachi program administered by Big Brothers Big Sisters, which mentors the children of prisoners. For the sake of these children, I ask you to continue funding this important program which changes lives.

When it comes to education, we must recognize its value in an interdependent world. Today knowledge is more valuable than raw labor, and those nations that prosper by pushing the envelope of innovation are those that invest in vibrant colleges and universities. ...”

Governor Perry’s State-of-the-State Address can be viewed in its entirety at: http://www.governor.state.tx.us/divisions/press/speeches/speech_020607