Laurie Todd-Smith, Ph.D., has spent 35 years as a classroom teacher, child care director, researcher, and education policy leader. She served as education and workforce advisor to Governor Phil Bryant when the 2013 reading law was passed, and later led the Women's Bureau at the U.S. Department of Labor and the federal Head Start and child care programs at the Department of Health and Human Services. She and Governor Bryant are the authors of Unveiling the Mississippi Miracle, at TheMississippiMiracle.com. She writes in her personal capacity.