Mark Trahant: Head Start program critical for Indian students

Thursday, February 21, 2013  

"Perhaps no federal program represents the ideological divide over spending than does Head Start. Head Start is a comprehensive early-learning project for low-income children.

This one budget line is critical to Indian Country: American Indian and Alaska Native students have the lowest level of educational attainment of any racial or ethnic group in the United States, according to the National Indian Education Association. And, while many tribes operate Head Start or other early learning programs, American Indians and Alaska Natives are still less likely to be enrolled in such programs.

On the national scale, Head Start is but a tiny slice of the appropriations pie, less than one-fifth of one percent, yet, as a White House fact sheet puts it, the impact of sequestration would diminish our “ability to teach our kids the skills they’ll need for the jobs of the future would be put at risk. 70,000 young children would be kicked off Head Start, 10,000 teacher jobs would be put at risk, and funding for up to 7,200 special education teachers, aides, and staff could be cut.”"

Get the Story:
A budget line that reflect divide in politics: Early learning. Spend. More. Now. (Mark Trahant 2/21)

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