Kitzhaber talks early education during C.O. visit

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber stressed the importance of early education in his proposed 2015 state budget. On Tuesday, he toured Central Oregon with that point, and others, in mind.

“Last year, we gave out 1,000 books,” said Dr. Margaret “Peggy” Philp, a pediatrician at St. Charles Family Care in Redmond.

The clinic participates in a national program called Reach Out And Read. Medical providers promote literacy and literacy programs with their patients and their families.

The Reach Out and Read program connects literacy with health.

“Parents who are involved in the Reach Out And Read program are four times more likely to read to their children on a daily basis,” Philp said.

Oregon’s early literacy initiative says that by 2 years old, the brain is about 85 percent of its adult size. Kitzhaber says that learning to read doesn’t begin in kindergarten, but in the vital years before it.

“We know today to get a good job you have to have a much higher level of education, training and skills than ever before,” Kitzhaber said.

Statistics also show reading at grade level by third grade is key to a successful and literate future. In Oregon, only about 40 percent of third graders are reading at level.

“It’s pretty low,” Kitzhaber said.

The governor’s proposed 2015 budget is $18.6 billion. He allotted half of it to education. His goal for the future is lofty. He would like to see 90 percent of third-graders reading at level.

“It’ll just make us a healthier, happy and successful society,” Kitzhaber said.

The governor also made three stops in Bend, the first a tour of Onboard Dynamics at COCC’s Automotive Technology Center, visiting a start-up making it easier and cost effective to fuel natural gas vehicles.

He also paid a Tuesday afternoon visit to Eastlake Village I in northeast Bend, to “meet people facing a critical need in Central Oregon: affordable housing,” his office said

On his last stop, Kitzhaber shared some of the day’s experiences in a discussion on equity and opportunity in Oregon at OSU-Cascades.