A few years ago, extremists in Washington D.C. created automatic across-the-board budget cuts, known as the “sequester,” which took effect earlier this year. All across the country, Head Start programs have been slashed 5%, along with other federally-funded programs. Although some of our Head Starts haven’t felt the impact yet, it’s expected that more than 8,000 California children will be eliminated from Head Start and Early Head Start programs as a result of last year’s sequester cuts.
But in January, Congress passed an omnibus spending bill that restores these cuts for the time being. It provides $8.6 billion for Head Start and reverses the entire sequester cut to Head Start. This spending bill also brings new investment in Obama’s Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships to expand access for infants and toddlers. While this ominibus bill doesn’t go far enough—all children deserve access to quality early education!—it is a welcome first step to ending the senseless cuts.
Our work is not done. We need to do more than simply stop cuts and make small increases. Last year, the Senate Appropriations Committee introduced a bill that would have brought significant new money to Head Start and Early Head Start. That’s the kind of commitment to children that we will continue to fight for. It’s time for all of us to become active in this fight for children, families, and good Head Start jobs in our communities.
At the state level, California Jerry Brown has shown some real commitment to improving K-12 education. His 2014/15 budget proposal includes reinvestment in education and a vision for ensuring that the neediest students have good schools. But his funding recommendations for early education remained flat. We need to make sure the Governor and our legislators understand that these education goals won’t be reached if we continue to ignore the crucial early years. Persistent education achievement gaps continue to widen. We will continue to urge Sacramento to bring back the 110,000 vulnerable young children who were denied access to early education.
