When faced with red ink, don't lose your Head Start
Wednesday, November 5, 2008 1:15 AM PST
Printable version
E-mail this articleNov. 5 Daily News editorial
The new faces voters are sending to the White House and Capitol Hill will start out in a fiscal bind come January. Much of the promised change that involves new spending will likely have to wait or be abandoned altogether. Some established programs will almost certainly go begging.
It is hoped that the nation’s premier early childhood education and health program, Head Start, is not among them. This 43-year-old preschool program delivers significant, long-term benefits for the some one million children it serves nationwide and the communities in which they live.
A coalition of law enforcement in Oregon’s Clackamas County recently took that message to state lawmakers, according to The Oregonian newspaper in Portland. The Clackamas County district attorney and police chiefs from Molalla and Canby reportedly urged the legislators to add $24 million in state funding to the federally funded preschool program.
The district attorney and police chiefs recognize the link between a lack of education and crime. They believe that investing in proven programs such as Head Start can boost high school graduation rates and, in turn, reduce crime. Studies support that belief.
One national study of Head Start’s effectiveness in preparing children from low-income families for success in school and life tracked program participants for 25 years. It found that Head Start children were more likely than economically disadvantaged children not in the program to finish high school, stay out of trouble with the law and own a home. The study concluded that, for every dollar invested in Head Start, taxpayers stood to save an estimated $7 in social costs that might otherwise accrue.
Regrettably, the federal investment in this very effective preschool program has been shinking over the past half dozen years. Cuts and inflation combined for an 11 percent decline in federal funding from fiscal 2002 through fiscal 2007. The funding squeeze forced some Head Start programs to reduce health services and parent-involvement activities, which is concerning. Head Start and Early Head Start participants’ health and home environment are important factors in a child’s educational performance.
Congress may not be able to increase the federal investment at a time when the national debt is spiraling out of control. But members of Congress should strive to find a way to protect Head Start funding from further erosion. Cutting this important preschool program would be penny-wise and pound-foolish to the extreme.
Past Month's Most Commented Stories