- Cuts will close some Head Start programs, say advocates, By Christopher Cousins, May 14, 2012, Maine Sun Journal: “Proposed cuts the Legislature will consider next week to funding for Head Start and day care voucher programs are prompting educators to sound the alarm that the cuts will affect not only the children and families involved, but Maine’s economy as a whole. A supplemental budget bill passed Thursday by Republicans on the Legislature’s Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee restores some funding that Gov. Paul LePage proposed to eliminate altogether, but experts say the reduced funding will have severe detrimental effects. Targeted for cuts are the Head Start program, child care subsidies for parents who are either working or continuing their education and funding for home visits for children in low-income families…”
- GOP plan cuts health benefits for at least 21,500, By Susan M. Cover, May 11, 2012, Kennebec Journal: “Republicans are proposing state budget cuts that would eliminate MaineCare for more than 20,000 people, end prescription drug benefits for about 1,500 elderly Mainers and reduce state funding for Head Start and other programs. Republican and Democrat legislators parted ways Thursday on a budget that highlights the stark philosophical differences between the parties and is raising tension in an election year. Democrats say Republicans are underestimating the extent of the proposed cuts, based on estimates they have from advocates. Republicans say agencies that receive state funds can cut administrative costs, rather than hurting children and elderly Mainers who benefit from the programs…”
Tag: Head Start
Head Start Program
Under scrutiny, some Head Start programs in limbo, By Claudio Sanchez, April 3, 2012, National Public Radio: “The Obama administration is calling for major changes in Head Start, the 46-year-old early childhood education program that helped launch President Johnson’s War on Poverty. President Obama says too many children today aren’t learning, and too many education programs are mismanaged. ‘We’re not just going to put money into programs that don’t work,’ the president announced late last year. ‘We will take money and put it into programs that do.’ To that end, the administration has released a list of 132 Head Start programs in 40 states it has rated ‘deficient.’ Those programs will now have to compete for federal funding…”
Public Prekindergarten Programs
Growth in prekindergarten slowed in recession, By Kimberly Hefling (AP), January 17, 2012, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “The expansion in public prekindergarten programs has slowed and even been reversed in some states as school districts cope with shrinking budgets. As a result, many 3- and 4-year-olds aren’t going to preschool. Kids from low-income families who start kindergarten without first attending a quality education program enter school an estimated 18 months behind their peers. Many never catch up, and research shows they are more likely to need special education services and to drop out. Kids in families with higher incomes also can benefit from early education, research shows. Yet, roughly a quarter of the nation’s 4-year-olds and more than half of 3-year-olds attend no preschool, either public or private. Families who earn about $40,000 to $50,000 annually face the greatest difficulties because they make too much to quality for many publicly funded programs, but can’t afford private ones, said Steven Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University…”