Topeka ? Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on Friday announced the appointment of a task force that will look at the state’s education system from pre-school through college.

Sebelius praised the current public school and higher education system, but said she wants Kansas to be known nationally as an education leader.

“Education is so intimately tied to our economic recovery and growth, we can’t afford to set our sights any lower,” Sebelius said.

Sebelius said she had no specific timeline on when the 27-member Education Policy Team would produce some recommendations.

The task force will be led by Sylvia Robinson, who is Sebelius’ director of education policy, and the first meeting will be Wednesday, Feb. 5 at the Topeka school district office.

Robinson said the task force will hold meetings across the state to receive comment from the public. Robinson said the task force will focus on student performance, costs and efficiencies, and leadership development.

During her recent campaign, Sebelius vowed to protect public school funding and even called for increases despite a record budget shortfall. But Sebelius said she had no pre-determined ideas on what the task force should do.

“The focus is not necessarily about money,” she said.

Craig Grant is the only resident of Lawrence on the task force. He retires today after 32 years with the Kansas National Education Assn.

Grant said the main emphasis of the task force would be in developing a continuum of education from pre-school through graduate school.

“We’re going to study what direction the state needs to go,” he said.

For any updates on this story, see Saturday’s Journal-World.