Political Quotes

On the recordNovember 19, 2024
it is often said that the greatest thing a leader can do is help nurture, shape, and create the next generation of leaders. Over the course of her life, Barbara Taylor Bowman--a pioneering force in early childhood education--did just that. I am sorry that Barbara passed away on November 4 at the age of 96. I wanted to take this moment to share some details about the remarkable life she led and the tremendous legacy she leaves. A daughter of Illinois, Barbara was born just before the Great Depression. She was raised on the South Side of Chicago, where her early life was shaped by the positive values of community and education and the unjust realities of segregation and inequity. These formative experiences would later inspire her work and lifelong dedication to educational equity. Barbara graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1950 and pursued a career as a preschool teacher, going on to earn her master's degree in education from the University of Chicago in 1952. By this point, her passion for bettering the lives of children through education had firmly taken root. Pursuing teaching during President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty, Barbara was inspired by the creation of Head Start, a program of the Department of Health and Human Services that provides comprehensive early childhood education, health, and nutrition.…
Said by
Dick Durbin
Democratic · Illinois

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