AS THE PUBLIC-SCHOOL year and the Rhode Island General Assembly session draw to a close and families are gearing up for weekends at the beach, we must remember that 400 vulnerable young children in the state may be turned away from Head Start in September because of the state budget crisis. This proposed budget savings comes at the expense of our children and creates future costs for our public schools and for the state at large.
Head Start is a federally administered program that provides children from very low-income families with access to preschool. Unfortunately, Head Start has never been funded adequately to serve all of the eligible children. Because Rhode Island policy makers recognized the importance of early education to the development of foundational cognitive and social skills, policy makers wisely chose to invest state funds to provide Head Start to 400 children who would otherwise be on a waiting list. If state funds are not available, these 400 children will miss a powerful opportunity: to enter kindergarten ready to learn and succeed.
Head Start provides vital education programming to preschoolers from multiple-risk, low-income families. Studies have consistently shown that children who attend Head Start have improved vocabulary, early writing, and early mathematics scores when they enter kindergarten. Long-term follow-up studies demonstrate remarkable differences for children who participate in Head Start in educational attainment, home ownership, incarceration rates and employment.
Families know that enrolling their 3- and 4-year-old children in preschool helps to prepare them for education success. U.S. Census data from 2005 indicate that nationally, more than 40 percent of 3-year-olds and nearly 70 percent of 4-year-olds attend preschool. However, preschool enrollment is highly unequal and is strongly correlated with family income. In Rhode Island in 2000, 70 percent of children ages 3 to 4 living in Barrington and East Greenwich were enrolled in preschool while only 33 percent of preschool-age children in Central Falls were enrolled.
Children in families with incomes below the federal poverty line are typically 18 months behind their peers at age 4. At kindergarten entry, they can be even further behind. Nobel Laureate economist James Heckman writes in the 2006 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that investing in high quality early education for low-income young children is the best investment that America can make in building a strong workforce. High-quality preschool experiences for low-income children help to close the academic achievement gap and create lasting benefits for children into adulthood and for society at large. Head Start can be the best economic investment that any state can make, saving millions later in preventable remediation and correctional expenses.
We know that this is an extremely difficult budget year, but since Head Start saves money in the long run — by putting our poorest children on the path for success — we hope that the General Assembly will find a way to continue to fund these slots. Pulling this vital education rug out from under our state’s youngest, most vulnerable citizens is not the way to go and will have long-term economic consequences for all Rhode Islanders.