Hirschbiel Hosts Early Childhood Education Roundtable
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: Wednesday, June 6, 2012
CONTACT
: Trey Nix, (757) 362 3300
“Early childhood education is critical to building the economy of the future”
Virginia Beach, VA- Yesterday, Virginia Beach businessman and community leader Paul Hirschbiel hosted a roundtable discussion on early childhood education in Northampton County. Community leaders joined Paul to discuss the importance of engaging children at a young age and the best practices to spread early childhood education into their community.
“Education always has been and must continue to be the cornerstone investment in America's greatness, and there is no debate that early childhood education is critical to the development of our children and an essential step to building the workforce and economy of the future. We know that when we do invest in early childhood education, students are more likely to read on grade level, graduate from high school, attend college, and join the workforce, ” said Paul Hirschbiel. “That is why I’m so disappointed that House Republicans have chosen to dramatically cut early childhood education, which is expected to eliminate 2 million children from Head Start, including 200,000 in 2014. We need to ensure that every child has access to early childhood education, so that we can prepare our children for a 21st century global economy.”
Hirschbiel, a widely recognized leader in early childhood education, is the founding chair of Smart Beginnings South Hampton Roads and the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation. Through Paul’s work, Smart Beginnings has grown to 29 different locations covering over 80% of children ages 0-5 in Virginia. Senator Mark Warner has commended Hirschbiel’s passion for education, noting that the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation "would not have accomplished what it has without Paul Hirschbiel's incredible dedication.”