Texas needs a legislative success agenda for children

Sorghum growers, libertarians, environmentalists, trial lawyers, medical professionals, craft brewers and the religious right will go into Texas’ 2017 legislative session with set agendas to keep or change laws in order to maximize their benefits and fulfill their goals.

Another group numbering nearly 8 million Texans has no agreed-upon 2017 path. They’re among the most vulnerable in Texas, and key legislative changes can mean the difference between a bright future or one of poverty and missed opportunities.

That group is the children of Texas. When the Legislature convenes next year, our kids won’t have a cohesive plan of action unless we prepare it.

Clearly, children differ greatly from members of the above interest groups.

Their needs are more diverse than those of farmers, and creating legislation that helps children is far more complex than drafting a slate of laws that craft brewers would appreciate.

On the plus side, children are significantly more adorable than trial lawyers.

We all want the very best policies for our children, but we may not all agree upon, or even be fully aware of, what that would entail.

With that in mind, we at Children at Risk have assembled an agenda for children:

Better schools, better outcomes. When it comes to lifting children from a lower economic class to a higher one, the single best public policy in America is quality public education.

What makes for good schools that produce college-ready students is not rocket science, but the simple use of evidence-based best practices that work: high expectations, more time on task, great leadership and great teachers.

High-quality early education. Ninety percent of a child’s brain development occurs from birth through age 5, yet we seldom discuss early education as a policy.

Sixty-seven percent of Texas families are working families with no stay-at-home parent.

Texas needs a policy to ensure high-quality early education, not simply warehousing our children, and this isn’t limited to high-quality pre-K.

We need to make sure that children have a chance to learn at every stage of development.

Parenting. Becoming a parent does not come with a handbook, and no one is born knowing how to be a great parent.

We need to have a public policy that respects the needs of parents and gives them the tools to help do the most important, difficult and rewarding job in the world, raising kids.

Why are we not offering parenting classes along with birthing classes to first-time parents?

Keep our kids safe. The largest group of human trafficking victims is domestic minors who are being trafficked for sex — make no mistake, human trafficking is very much a children’s issue.

Texas has been a leader in fighting human trafficking, but more needs to be done from the standpoint of minors, especially concerning prevention, awareness and victim services.

Health and nutrition. Healthy children are better learners, and, while great work has been done to ensure all Texas children have improved access to school breakfast, we are missing opportunities to have a greater impact on our children’s health.

From school recess to after-school meals, many beneficial programs are underused in Texas.

We need to make sure kids have access to a healthy lifestyle and that this lifestyle is modeled both at home and in school.

It is time to treat our children with the same deference and concern as other special interests.

Children need an engaged general public that is both informed and passionate about giving them every chance to succeed.

Make it a point to talk to your elected officials about an agenda for children.

The future of Texas is embodied by our children. The other special interests can wait.

Let’s make kids’ needs the biggest agenda item next legislative session.

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 6:34 PM with the headline "Texas needs a legislative success agenda for children."