Why Kids First?

Kids First is a new vision to guide our future—a bigger vision, a fresh vision, a vision based on brain-based research, on the power of culture to transform, and on our track record of success. We need a new vision for children in America because the world has changed. For all children to thrive, they need an education adapted to serving the whole child and adapted to each child’s gifts, talents, and needs. We need to mobilize a citizen’s movement to transform how America cares for and educates its children.

Parents are looking for an education system that meets the needs of the whole child, which:

• Provides social and emotional support
• Assures success in life, not just in the classroom
• Accounts for the environment in which a child lives

The reality is that we do not put kids first in this country. If we did:

• No child would attend a poorly equipped, substandard school
• No child’s diagnosed needs would go untreated
• No child in crisis would be ignored and become part of a system that turns them into a statistic