June 23, 2006
Domestic Spending Cuts Threaten Head Start
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
With hundreds of billions of dollars being spent on the war in Iraq, budget shortfalls are plaguing many important programs here at home. Among those impacted is Head Start.
Head Start is a federally funded child development program that has served 20 million Americans since 1965. About one million children are enrolled in nearly 50,000 classrooms.
However, Sarah Greene, president of the National Head Start Association, warned today in a media event that budget cuts are creating “an alarming downward spiral trend” in services. Last year Congress imposed a one percent cut on Head Start Programs despite rapidly growing expenses, creating a “vice-like cost squeeze.”
“Unless proper funding is made available and further cuts are suspended,” Greene continued, there will be “widespread program shutdowns and unacceptably severe cuts in service.”
To learn more about Head Start and how to help, go to http://www.saveheadstart.org.
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT