From Early Childhood Focus

Groups warn about cutting Head Start

Posted in: West Virginia, Head Start

By Sheila Holland
June 6, 2007

By next year, 257 West Virginia children could lose access to Head Start if its funding is cut 1 percent, according to an estimate by the private, nonprofit National Head Start Association.

Heads of several community organizations, including Kanawha County Head Start, plan to hold a press conference today to urge Congress to override a presidential veto, if necessary, to avoid cutting Head Start enrollment.

The U.S. House of Representatives has already passed a bill that would not cut Head Start. President Bush has threatened to veto spending bills needed to implement Congress�s budget plan.

�These programs have a direct effect on Kanawha County,� said Ted Boettner, policy analyst for the Mountain State Education & Research Foundation.

West Virginia had 7,610 children � mostly 3- and 4-year-olds from low-income families � enrolled in Head Start last year, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The program is designed to help preschoolers develop the basic skills they will need to succeed in school.

Volunteers outnumber paid staff five to one, according to the department�s statistics.

�Unfortunately in West Virginia, our Head Start programs have had to make some serious cuts to a range of critical services because of several tight budget years,� said Becky Gooch-Erbacher, director of the West Virginia Head Start Association, in a press release.

Full text available at the Charleston Gazette