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ST. LOUIS NEWS TODAY - Sunday, October 1, 2006
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Missouri College Savings Plan Announces Partnership With Parents as Teachers
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), October 1, 2006 - Missouri State Treasurer Sarah Steelman, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, and Sue Stepleton, President of Parents as Teachers, have joined a collaborative effort to encourage all Missouri families to start saving for college by highlighting recent improvements in the state and federal tax- advantaged savings program and a new outreach partnership with Parents as Teachers.
"All parents have high hopes for their children," said Steelman. "In today's world, a college education is essential to making the hopes and dreams of children and their parents become reality.
"Parents today are facing the difficult task of saving enough to cover tomorrow's ever-increasing tuition rates," said Steelman. "MOST can help. In talking to parents throughout the state about their dreams for their children, Parents as Teachers was mentioned over and over again as one of the most credible sources of information on child development available to them. This partnership with Parents as Teachers will further our goal in making the dream of college a reality for the children of Missouri."
The new partnership with Parents as Teachers will help raise awareness of the MOST program among parents with young children. Parents as Teachers has committed to distributing information about college savings and the MOST program to parents just beginning their families. Parents as Teachers reaches nearly half of the families with young children in the state -- more than 100,000 families with nearly 150,000 children.
"If Parents as Teachers can help Missouri's parents prepare their children to learn when they start school, together with MOST we can help encourage families to start saving toward their children's college education. Imagine the positive results for this state!" said Stepleton.
Elements of the MOST - Parents as Teachers partnership will include:
- Distribution of MOST materials to all Missouri families at 6 months
visit
- Briefings by MOST representatives to Parents as Teachers regional
coordinators at regular quarterly meetings
- Invitation to MOST representatives to attend the Missouri Department
of Elementary and Secondary Education "Conference on the Young Years"
and the Parents as Teachers Annual conference.
MOST - Missouri's 529 College Savings Plan gives parents the opportunity to receive state tax incentives for saving. Accounts can be started and maintained for as little as $25 per month (and in some instances less). Anyone -- parents, grandparents, friends, even the students themselves -- can contribute to an account. Accounts can be transferred within families subject to certain limitations. Money can be used for any qualified higher education cost -- including tuition, certain room and board expenses, books, and supplies -- and can be used at accredited colleges and universities across the nation and even some overseas.
At the federal level, Congress and the President recently made permanent provisions in the federal tax code allowing earnings to be tax-exempt when withdrawn if used for such higher-education expenses.
St. Louis is Finalist for International Award that Recognizes Great Ideas & Achievements by Cities
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), October 1, 2006 - The World Leadership Awards are given to cities whose leaders have shown exceptional imagination, foresight or resilience in a number of key fields - especially cities that have reversed trends, shaken off traditional images, and acted as an example and inspiration to others.
St. Louis is a finalist for an international award that recognizes great ideas and achievements by cities.
"Just being a finalist is a great honor," said St. Louis Mayor FrancisSlay. "It is international recognition that the hard work, vision and perseverance of a great many people is paying off."
The World Leadership Forum (WLF) contacted leaders in 400 of the world's largest cities and asked them to submit synopses of their most successful projects. The judges apply three criteria: the quality of leadership displayed, the difficulties or obstacles that the city has overcome, and the degree of inspiration that the city has provided to others.
Presented annually in London, the World Leadership Awards celebrate the very best in modern city leadership.
More than 400 cities across the world were asked to submit projects in a wide range of activities spanning: Architecture & Civil Engineering, Communication, Culture and the Arts, Economy and/or Employment, Education and/or the Development of the Young, Health, Housing, Environment, Law & Order, Science and Technology, Sports, Town Planning, Transport, Urban Renewal and Utilities.
St. Louis is one of four finalists in the Urban Renewal category. The other finalists are Kansas City; Manchester, England and Calcutta, India. Last year's winner was Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
The finalists will make presentations to the judges at a series of live symposia in London on December 5 - 6, 2006; and the winners will be announced at the Royal Courts of Justice on December 6, 2006. Mayor Slay will represent St. Louis.
Nation's Children's Hospitals to Receive Critical Federal Support to Train Pediatricians and Pediatric Specialists
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), October 1, 2006 - U.S. Senator Kit Bond has announced that legislation to provide our nation's children's hospitals with critical federal support to train pediatricians and pediatric specialists passed the Senate last night. This legislation is expected to pass the House of Representatives this week and will then be sent to the President to be signed into law.
"Passage of this vital legislation is great news and will allow us to continue the critical advances that have been made in children's health care," said Senator Bond. "Children's Hospitals provide the highest quality medical care to children from all parts of the country. These fine institutions are essential to the health and health care of children today and tomorrow."
"This program has enabled our hospital to train approximately 125 interns and residents annually, which will help to ensure children will have a strong pediatric health care workforce today and into the future. Senator Bond has been the original champion in Congress on this issue and we are extremely appreciative and proud of his tireless efforts and leadership on behalf of children," said Dr. Randall O'Donnell, President and CEO, Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics.
"We thank Senator Bond for his fervent, ongoing commitment to pediatric medicine," says Lee Fetter, hospital president. "Passage of the Children's Hospital Graduate Medical Education Payment Program reauthorization enables us to continue to train the next generation of pediatricians and pediatric specialists. As a teaching hospital, this training is a critical element in our ability to serve all children regardless of their families' ability to pay."
"The Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act will extend the authority of the Children's Hospitals Graduate Medical Education Program (CHGME) for an additional five years. Bond, who created the original CHGME program, pointed out that this program provides our nation's independent children's hospitals with the same federal support for their teaching missions provided to other teaching hospitals through Medicare," said Dr. Randall O'Donnell, President and CEO, Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics
The CHGME program helps children's hospitals to sustain their teaching programs and to secure the quality of these residency programs at the national level. Bond stressed that protecting the number and breadth of residency positions is critical to ensuring that our nation will have the pediatric workforce needed for our children's future. Currently, less than one percent of all hospitals -- the independent children's hospitals -- train almost one-third of all pediatricians, almost half of all pediatric specialists, and the majority of future pediatric researchers.
The Children's Hospitals GME Support Reauthorization Act will also help Children's Hospitals continue to fulfill their other valuable missions. Independent children's hospitals are an important part of the safety net for low income children, providing 40 percent of all hospital care for children covered by Medicaid and extensive ambulatory care services. They provide half or more of the hospital care for children with many serious illnesses, from cancer to heart disease, and include many of our leading pediatric research centers.
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