The main goal for the National Institute for Early Education Research is to provide information and research that will help professionals in the field with establishing high quality centers and programs for young children.
One issue that caught my attention was the article in the New York times about cuts that were made to Head Start Programs.
Cuts to Head Start show challenge of fiscal restraint
Date: Mar 10, 2011
Source: The New York Times
By: Jennifer Steinhauer
Head Start was chosen for large cuts in the House spending bill because members of the Appropriations Committee concluded that the program was getting too much money given what they felt was its effectiveness, and that too much of its financing had gone to administrative costs rather than new enrollment. In addition, a Government Accountability Office report last year found eight instances of fraud, in which families with too high an income were enrolled in the program. Further, they cited research questioning the program's effectiveness.
Shavonne,
ReplyDeleteGreat Post, in my state they are thinking about cutting the PK program because the governor does not think that form of education is helpful. It is really sad because little does he know that a great education starts with a great foundation.
It is so sad that early childhood is not seen as priority. Even with the studies that show that children who are stimulated earlier in life tend to do better as adults. I will check out this website. I am also connected to what sounds like a similar site that informs parents about issues of the family and also shows simple ways to become involved. Children are our most valuable asset, they are our future.
ReplyDeleteTashana and Gloria,
ReplyDeleteThat's horrible!! PreK is so important. All of my students who are doing very well in my 1st grade class attended pre-k and the ones who are not performing at grade level or has a hard time learning the concepts did not attend pre-k. This is not coincidental.
This is so frustrating to read...especially as a ECE professional, preschool teacher and mom. It is so crazy how they don't see how important of a foundation is laid in the early years of a child's life. Here in GA they considered getting rid of Pre-k, then cutting it to a half day program and now it seems they will cut funding and make fewer pre-k classrooms or add more students to the classes. It just makes no sense to me that someone can't see how important this is to young students.
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