PRINTPhilip Peters: The achievement gap overachiever
Executive Director of First Chance for Children
David Kennedy
Philip Peters is a health law professor at MU returning from a two-year sabbaticall to be the executive director of First Chance for Children.
November 12, 2009 | 12:00 a.m. CST
59 | 23 years in Columbia
Stacks of books dominate Philip Peters’ desk. “I’m in transition,” he apologizes, and waves a hand at the clutter. With grizzled hair and thin-framed glasses, Peters looks the part of an MU law professor. It’s when he leans back in his chair and smiles that he reveals the man dedicated to closing the achievement gap among children in mid-Missouri.
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It seems Peters is usually in transition. From college student to law student, lawyer to professor, he shares that he’s always felt the need to make a difference. A lack of minority students with competitive test scores caused him to look harder at the achievement gap plaguing law schools. After extensive research, Peters traced the problem to inadequate early childhood education.
“When I got to college, I learned that a lot of what you get taught in fifth-grade history is a fairy tale,” he says. “The American Dream was not and is not available for everyone.” His interest in finding a solution led him to First Chance for Children, an organization dedicated to improving early education for low-income children and serving almost 600 families.
Since the agency formed in 1998 as Community Child Care Consortium, its mission has been to serve high-risk moms and encourage them to become a “first teacher” for their kids. The Parents as Teachers Plus home visits, along with Lend and Learn toy libraries and a three-year, $2.7 million Early Reading First grant, have given the agency a voice in the community.
As Peters addresses the importance of early childhood education, he pauses. It’s clear he’s heartfelt about decreasing the achievement gap.
In January 2008, Peters put health law aside and accepted the position of executive director of First Chance for Children. He felt he could make more of a difference if he was there every day.
And has he? “Yes, definitely yes,” Peters says. “There are still a lot of people who think you just need to keep kids entertained and safe. Keeping them safe is essential, but not enough.”
Peters hopes that First Chance for Children’s goal of closing the achievement gap early will be recognized and adopted nationwide. He admits that “the pace is glacial” and he must be satisfied with small changes.
Although he plans to remain a board member for First Chance for Children, Peters will transition in January 2010 back to being a health law professor. Hence, his disorderly office. “I’m a little nervous, I’m rusty,” he adds quietly, but his smile suggests he’s excited to begin another chapter.
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