Sen. Christi Gillespie Appointed to Oklahoma Early Childhood Task Force

OKLAHOMA CITY – Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton has appointed Senator Christi Gillespie, R-Broken Arrow, to serve on the newly established Oklahoma Early Childhood Task Force, a two-year initiative created to study and improve how Oklahoma delivers services to children ages zero through five and their families.

Gillespie said she is honored to serve on the task force and looks forward to helping identify practical solutions to strengthen Oklahoma’s early childhood system.

“This is about making sure we are doing everything we can to give Oklahoma children the best possible start,” Gillespie said. “I look forward to listening, learning and working with the other members of the task force to develop meaningful recommendations that can make a real difference for families across our state. I’m grateful to Pro Tem Paxton for this appointment and for the opportunity to be part of this important work.”

The Early Childhood Task Force goes into effect November 1, 2026, examining the state’s current early childhood system, including governance, collaboration and opportunities to streamline services and improve outcomes for Oklahoma children and families.

Currently, Oklahoma families must navigate through 19 different programs within six state agencies just to get the services they need. The task force will help streamline those efforts to get Oklahoma families’ needs met. Twenty-six other states have implemented similar early childhood initiatives and have seen positive results in areas including school readiness, infant and childhood health, and access to care.

“Senator Gillespie is a thoughtful and dedicated legislator who understands the importance of giving Oklahoma children the strongest possible start in life,” Pro Tem Paxton said. “I’m confident she will bring a solutions-oriented approach to this task force and work to ensure our early childhood system is more coordinated, efficient and accessible for families. She understands that helping Oklahoma families shouldn’t mean making them navigate a maze of programs and agencies to find the services they need. We have an opportunity to take a hard look at how these programs are administered, eliminate unnecessary duplication, improve accountability and make better use of taxpayer dollars."

Over the next two years, the task force will review Oklahoma’s existing early childhood programs and services and identify opportunities to reduce administrative overlap, improve accountability and efficiency, and provide families with more direct access to high-quality programs. The task force will use information gathered during the two-year review to develop recommendations aimed at creating a more effective, coordinated system that better meets the needs of Oklahoma’s youngest children and their families.