UC Davis School of Education 
and the Institute of Governmental Affairs
 presented a talk by David Kirp, Professor, UC Berkeley

“Kids First: Five Big (and Affordable) Ideas to Transform the Lives of Children and America’s Future”

Thursday, April 7, 2011
5:00 p.m.
School of Education Building, Room 174

In KIDS FIRST, renowned education policy expert and child advocate David Kirp seeks to reshape America’s approach to supporting children, proposing a “Kids-First Agenda” guided by a simple, powerful “Golden Rule:” Every child deserves what’s good enough for a child you love.  While social programs for children have traditionally concentrated on helping the very poorest kids, Kirp argues that America’s middle class families also need help, and that a policy that benefits kids “cradle to career” across social strata is also a policy more likely to sustain popular support.

David L. Kirp is a professor and former acting dean at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. In 2008, he served on President Obama’s Transition Team and, recently, he served on Tom Torlakson’s Transition Team.  He taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and was founding director of the Harvard Center on Law and Education. He now writes for publications including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The American Prospect and The Nation.