The Fight for Head Start: Why Head Start Should not Disappear

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Growing up I always believed Head Start was just another option to day care or a nursery, but since I have done hours of research I found that I was wrong. Head Start is a program that President Johnson began in 1965; but was earlier thought up by President Kennedy in 1962 when he began to address the war on poverty (Vinovskis, 31). This program was originally created to give children from low income families a head start to education for free, or at a very small cost; Head Start is federally and state funded. These programs would also provide breakfast and lunch for the kids along with health screenings and health care. Most of the programs also provide the parents of these children with informal classes about raising their children in poverty and they provide the parent with the opportunity to participate in the Head Start activities. This program was established to help the children and the parents of poverty. Today this program is getting its budget cut more and more each year, with many of the programs being shut down. To illustrate the problem, Karolak wrote in an article, “Only about one out of six children eligible for federal child care help through the Child Care and Development Block Grant receives is; this is the result of stagnant or declining federal and state funding over the past decade. Head Start’s promise has not been fully realized in part because it, too, has not been fully funded” (84). I could not have said it better. People do not see what Head Start could potentially do for children because it has not been fully funded since it began. People believe these programs are not helping children because by 2nd grade the children are all showing the same amount of academic achievement. Also people believe these... ... middle of paper ... ...60406) 212 (2013): 84-86. Education Research Complete. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. Parent Activity Funds Narrative." Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. Phillips, Deborah, and Natasha J. Cabrera. Beyond the Blueprint: Directions for Research on Head Start's Families. Washington, D.C: National Academy Press, 1996. Internet resource. Vinovskis, Maris. The Birth of Head Start: Preschool Education Policies in the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005. Print. Zhai, Fuhua, Jane Waldfogel, and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn. "Estimating the Effects of Head Start on Parenting and Child Maltreatment." Children & Youth Services Review 35.7 (2013): 1119-1129. Education Research Complete. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. Zigler, Edward, and Sally J. Styfco. The Head Start Debates. Baltimore, Md: P.H. Brookes Pub, 2004. Print.

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