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Congressman
Elijah E. Cummings |
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Congressman
Elijah E. Cummings |
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(6/28/03 Baltimore AFRO-American Newspaper)
Assuring every child the head start they need
by Congressman Elijah E. Cummings
This year, the Congress must "reauthorize" Head Start – the national-local partnership that has given nearly 19 million low-income children the health, nutritional and educational services essential to early childhood development.
Any of my colleagues who question the positive difference that Head Start can make should listen to Ms. Portia DeShields.
By the time that their son, Marcus, was three, Mr. and Ms. DeShields realized that he was struggling with a speech and language disability. Remembering the help that Ms. DeShields had gained from her childhood participation in Head Start, the family enrolled Marcus in a Head Start program sponsored by Baltimore's Union Baptist Church.
Beginning in September of last year, a Head Start speech pathologist worked with Marcus two or three times each week. A mental health specialist helped Marcus learn how to control his anger, and "positive parenting" classes taught his parents how to better meet his needs.
Today, at age four, Marcus' speech and language skills have improved to the point where he is functioning at near-kindergarten level.
Head Start is working for Marcus and nearly one million other children. We can help even more children to succeed if we provide the resources needed to expand its educational component.
Because of inadequate federal funding, Head Start now serves only 60 percent of the children who qualify. For an additional $6 billion in funding each year, we could assure that every eligible child receives a Head Start in life.
That's a lot of money – but we know that for every $1 dollar we invest in Head Start, we save U.S. taxpayers between $4 and $7 down the road.
That is one of the reasons why this nation's teachers - through their National Education Association - stand full square behind providing Head Start to every eligible child.
The teachers are skeptical, however, about efforts by the Bush Administration and some congressional Republicans to transfer control of Head Start to the states. They consider even the 8-state block grant "experiment" currently under debate to be a risky and unwarranted experiment.
I must agree. Although the Bush Administration has challenged the ability of Head Start programs to significantly increase the language and literacy skills of their students, neither the Administration nor its congressional allies have offered to provide the additional $2 billion in annual funding that would assure every Head Start child a reading teacher with a four-year, early childhood degree.
Republican proposals to turn Head Start over to the uncertainties of state-level decision making also raise a fundamental question. Where is the evidence that the states have the expertise to successfully manage the comprehensive, family-oriented interventions that have made Head Start such a success?
In our relatively progressive State of Maryland, kindergarten teachers conducted an assessment of their pupils' readiness to learn at the beginning of the 2001-2002 school year; and the results were quite sobering.
Statewide, only 49 percent of Maryland kindergartners were rated by their teachers "fully ready" to learn. The majority were assessed as needing either "targeted" or "considerable" educational interventions.
The need for special help was even more pronounced when the evaluation focused on the children's language and literacy skills. More than 75 percent of Baltimore City and Baltimore County children – African Americans and Caucasians alike – were found by their teachers to need special pre-reading interventions. Even in relatively affluent Howard County, 43 percent of Caucasian and 65 percent of Black kindergartners were not ready to learn how to read.
How do these results reflect favorably upon the State of Maryland's professed commitment to early childhood education? How do they support the proposition that the state has the experience and ability to successfully manage the more comprehensive family empowerment initiatives that are central to Head Start?
Currently, more 10,000 Maryland children are benefitting from $76 million in annual federal Head Start funding. Nevertheless, the evidence reveals that these children – and most Maryland preschool children – need far more help learning to read.
The state's professed willingness to help Head Start improve its educational programs should be encouraged; but at a time when Maryland and most other states are facing budgetary shortfalls, shouldn't the states be concentrating upon fulfilling their existing K-12 duties?
The dismal accomplishments of Maryland's early childhood initiatives to date support the need for a vastly expanded pre-school effort at all levels of government. It is the success of children like Marcus DeShields, however, that points toward the most promising strategy.
We should substantially increase federal Head Start funding while implementing strong national standards within Head Start's proven structure of family involvement and local control.
Just ask Portia DeShields. By building upon Head Start's record of success, we can assure that every child receives the start in life that they need.
-The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings represents the 7th Congressional District of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives.
