Head Start needs a boost in funding
The Republican, Editorial, January 28, 2008

The Holyoke-Chicopee-Springfield Head Start program provides some stability for disadvantaged children whose lives are often anything but stable.

In the preschool community, the children can play with other 3- and 4-year-olds; they get attention from caring adults who read them stories, let them draw pictures and give them snacks. It's a friendly place where they learn how to get along with others and gain the skills that will help them be successful in elementary school.

About 300 Head Start workers serve 1,300 disadvantaged children in Western Massachusetts. In what could signal a disturbing trend, the number of homeless children in the local program has risen from 92 last year to 120 this year. An increase in the program's impoverished clientele requires more than the level-funding it has received this year. So since the children can't lobby for themselves, local Head Start Director Janis Santos is traveling to Capitol Hill this week to urge lawmakers to boost financial support for the program.

U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., a champion of Head Start, said he is concerned that the program has not been sufficiently funded to give workers pay raises or cover the increasing costs of fuels for heating and transportation. Child care workers' pay has been historically low, making it difficult to insure the program's quality.

Study after study has shown that quality early childhood programs have an overwhelmingly positive impact on learning and preparing children for school - and for life. An investment in early childhood education yields economic and social benefits. By improving the skills of the American workforce, programs for poor children could help raise the gross domestic product, reduce poverty and strengthen U.S. global competitiveness.

It's an investment every American has a stake in because an educated workforce is good for everyone. Head Start needs stronger federal support. We hope lawmakers are listening.