Research center opens
“In Louisiana, we’re spending over $1.4 billion in public dollars for educational and health-care services for those children served by early childhood programs.” Gov. bobby jindal
LAFAYETTE — Officials marked the opening of the Cecil J. Picard Center for Childhood Development and Lifelong Learning by paying tribute Thursday to the visions of both Picard and Baton Rouge philanthropist Loyd Rockhold.
The work of the center fulfills the “dreams and aspirations” of both men, said Billy Stokes, the center’s director.
The research center focuses on issues related to early childhood and K-12 education, school-based health, poverty’s effects on families, and lifelong learning.
The center is the evaluator of the state’s public preschool program, created by Picard when he was state superintendent of education. The center is also tracking school children through graduation and into the workforce.
Education is a key weapon in the battle to reduce poverty, Stokes said.
In the 1960s, when only 35 percent of Louisiana’s population had a high school diploma, the state’s poverty rate was 40 percent, he said.
Based on current data, more than 85 percent of the state’s residents have a high school diploma, and the poverty rate is down to 17 percent, Stokes said.
Research shows that for every 2 percent the state increases the educational attainment of its residents, the poverty rate is reduced by 1 percent, Stokes said.
Gov. Bobby Jindal, who attended the ceremony, said the state isn’t effectively leveraging funds available for early childhood education programs.
He said data show that the state’s LA4 program is the “most effective” in preparing children for kindergarten and costs about $5,000 per student per year. He said it costs about twice as much to educate a child through the Head Start preschool program.
“In Louisiana, we’re spending over $1.4 billion in public dollars for educational and health-care services for those children served by these early childhood programs. That’s in addition to over another $100 million provided through the Head Start program,” Jindal said. “Unfortunately, today those programs are often disjointed, poorly organized with redundant red tape and bureaucracy.”
He touted his proposed reforms specific to early childhood education, which include reducing red tape for early childhood providers, the creation of a letter grade accountability system for providers, public funding cuts for low-performing programs, and tax credits that reward high-performing programs.
The Cecil J. Picard Center for Childhood Development and Lifelong Learning is named in honor of the longtime educator, who died of Lou Gehrig’s disease in 2007. Rockhold, who died in 2010, financially backed the research center in 2001 when it was organized at the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans.
In 2005, the center relocated to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette; however, its staff was split among available office space on the main campus and the research park. Rockhold’s family foundation provided the seed money to jump-start the planning of the building construction.
Both families continue to support the center’s mission.
The realization of his father’s dream is “humbling,” said Tyron Picard, whose two sons, John, 9, and Drew, 11, cut the ceremonial ribbon during Thursday’s ceremony.
A group of preschool students from the university’s nearby lab school stood in front of the boys.
The preschoolers each held a pair of colorful paper scissors for the occasion.
About $7 million in state funding was secured for the construction of the 40,000-square-foot building, which was completed in September 2011.
The building includes a technology center, a data analysis room that Picard envisioned as a “war room,” and the Rockhold Distance Learning Center that seats 200.
Related ULL departments, such as counselor education, psychology, gifted education, and the Center for Innovative Learning and Assessment Technology, are also housed in the building.
The building also features a memorial library that includes an exhibit chronicling Picard’s life and career, such as him stepping into his late father’s shoes as principal of Maurice High at the age of 29 and leading the school through desegregation.