Vice President Sebelius: Where would she stand on Social Mobility Issues?

Today we look at another red state governor and potential vice presidential nominee as we continue to examine the most frequently speculated leaders atop Barack Obama’s VP short list.

Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS)

Now into her second term, Gov. Sebelius has been a champion for working families, children, education reform and affordable healthcare. She has continually called for Kansans to play an active role in creating better lives for themselves and their communities and has brought together many stakeholders from public and private sectors to create change in her state.

Sebelius has said that her greatest joy in life is not serving as a governor, but as a mother. It’s no surprise then that she has created an online toolkit for Kansas parents that gives families the information they need about monitoring the content children get from the mass media. Her parent’s toolkit links to resources that review movies, TV shows and video games for foul language, violence and sexual content. Parents can also use the toolkit to download free Internet filtering software and find instructions on how to use it. On the parent’s tools website, Sebelius writes:

I don’t believe moms and dads should be alone in their fight to raise children the right way, which is why I want to help Kansas parents by providing access to tools to protect their children from inappropriate materials. Then you can make the decisions about what you feel is right for your child, the same way Gary and I did when our boys were younger.

This April, Sebelius formed the Governor’s P-20 Education Council to help Kansas develop a seamless high-quality education system with appropriate benchmarks for success for all grade levels. Her council, which includes college and university professors and leaders, public school officials, children’s advocates and business leaders, is tasked with helping Kansas schools “see the big picture, and chart the path to success for every Kansas child.”

Her other executive initiatives include Kansas Mentors, a project that connects individuals to mentoring opportunities and serves as an umbrella organization for existing mentoring programs. Some have estimated that 50,000 children in Kansas are in need of a mentor. Kansas Mentors has partnered with its neighboring state of Nebraska for the Coaches’ Mentoring Challenge to reduce the “mentoring gap.” Led by Coaches Tom Osborne and Bill Snyder, each state is competing to see who can sign up the most new mentors this summer and fall.

Finally, Sebelius has been a key advocate for reducing medical costs and decreasing the number of uninsured people in her state. In her quest to achieve universal coverage for the people of Kansas she has called for reform that focuses on preventative care and personal responsibility for health and wellness. She has created a commission that brings together private employers, insurers, and health professionals to find ways to lower costs health care costs and increase access. She also established the Healthy Kansas initiative, through which she calls on Kansans to commit to good health by participating in some form of physical activity for 30 minutes five days a week, eat a nutritious diet and stop using tobacco products.