Head Start Officials Bracing for Worst Under Cuts

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Now that Congress and the Bush Administration have let down America’s most at-risk children twice in the space of roughly six months, Head Start leaders from across the nation will announce during a phone-based news conference at 1 p.m. EDT/10 a.m. PDT on Thursday (June 19, 2008) that they will have no choice but to cut several thousand Head Start classroom slots.

The Head Start program was cut in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 budget, and federal lawmakers then failed in the supplemental appropriations process to restore those funds or any portion of the $1 billion in effective program cuts that have accumulated since FY 2002. As a result, local Head Start programs – many of which already have shrunk dramatically in the face of years of cutbacks and other scrimping to cut corners – now will be forced to take the final remaining option: cutting several thousand Head Start classroom slots.

Despite the experience of recent months, Head Start leaders will emphasize that they remain enthusiastic about the prospect of working with a new President and Congress to restore Head Start funding to its proper levels.

News event speakers will include: National Head Start Association Board Chairman Ron Herndon, who also is director of the Albina Head Start program (Portland, OR); Julius Bennett, director, East Side House Settlement Head Start (Bronx, NYC); and  Dr. Mary Ellen Caron, commissioner, Chicago Department of Children and Youth Services.

The National Head Start Association (http://www.nhsa.org) is a private not-for-profit membership organization dedicated exclusively to meeting the needs of Head Start children and their families. It represents more than 1 million children, 200,000 staff and 2,600 Head Start programs in the United States. The Association provides support for the entire Head Start community by advocating for policies that strengthen services to Head Start children and their families; by providing extensive training and professional development to Head Start staff; and by developing and disseminating research, information, and resources that enrich Head Start program delivery.