The Controversy of Head Start Essays

The Controversy of Head Start Essays The Controversy of Head Start Essay The Controversy of Head Start Essay Ever since the creation and implementation of the Head Start program in 1965, there has always been controversy over the programs effectiveness. Much of the controversy stems over the self-reporting of evidence that the National Head Start Association provides, both to the government and to the public, along with the actual impact Head Start has on the children that participate in this controversial program. One thing is certain about the Head Start program and that is that there will always be a clear division between its supporters and opponents. The main goal of the Head Start program is to provide poor underprivileged pre-school aged children essentially with a head start in education. Supporters of Head Start believe that by providing these services these poor underprivileged children would better adapt to the school system and later become successful as adults. Head Start is not just about providing educational services; the program also focuses on providing both mental and physical health check-ups and nutritious meals to the enrolled students. Head Start cannot be described merely as a pre-school program. Head Start actually plays the role of a comprehensive support group for poor underprivileged children and their families. This federally funded program feels the noose tightening because of plans to let individual states opt in with their own state-run head start-like programs. Supporters of Head Start believe that by allowing this a majority of funding that the federal government provides will be diverted from Head Start to build up new state-run programs. Proponents of Head Start view this as a threat to the health of Head Start programs around the nation. These individuals believe that by diverting funds from a proven program to unproven programs will leave, many if not all, eligible children in the lurch. The Head Start controversy is similar in many ways to the Social Security dilemma. Do we take what we have right now and provide it to everyone without worrying about the future or do we invest in a proven program for the betterment of the future? This is only one of many questions that lawmakers must carefully weigh before committing to a course of action that could shut the Head Start program down for good. Every program, either federal or state, has its opponents and the Head Start program is no exception. Opponents of Head Start believe that the information and data provided regarding Head Start is skewed and biased. The claim that Head Start programs benefit children right now and will later benefit as adults is unsubstantiated. Still others believe that Head Start is a bleeding ulcer with no chance of recovery and rather than blood is losing billions of dollars every year. Rather than leaving the running of Head Start in the hands of individual program administrators, state legislators want more control through the form of state-direct funding. This causes a problem for Head Start because previous data concerning grants for various other programs show that abandonment by the federal government of direct involvement of a program leads to the eventual erosion of funding. This can be caused by state legislators cutting or diverting funding to other programs or even the total closure of a program in order to balance state budgets. No matter what the outcome is over the controversy of Head Start, there will be one clear loser and that is the children that would have benefited from the wide range of services provided by Head Start. Conversely, state budgetary concerns should also be taken into consideration because of the potential impact tax increases and budget cutbacks would have on residents of individual states. All in all it would not be wise to quickly bring about the demise of a proven early childhood program by transforming it from head start to dead end.