CNN: Head Start Programs - Bush is Critical

[kysrsoze]

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/07/07/bush.headstart.ap/index.html

I thought they meant Bush is critical to "success" or something. Actually, he was being critical of how the program is run, stating the kids don't have as good of test scores as the national average. So he's threatening to cut back funding. The states are fighting to keep from inheriting the costs. TV had some interesting photo ops with him helping out in the classroom....

BTW - Never thought I'd see CNN portray it the way it did. The TV report was obviously slanted to make him look very bad.

[huckleberry]

1. I saw that too -

and got the same impression. Maybe, just maybe, CNN is starting to see the damage bush is doing to education, etc.

[acmavm]

2. Why does a report have to be "slanted" to make * look bad? He can do

a good job of that without anyone's help.

[expatriot]

3. just one more example of how evil he is

For one, OF COURSE Head Start programs have lower test scores... that is why they are there... they come from disadvantaged home. This is an example of No Child Left Behind is more aptly named Shoot the Stragglers.

[kysrsoze]

4. Wow, he doesn't care for poor kids anywhere

We're talking evil incarnate. I couldn't believe the dude was walking around patting these little black kids on the back. Where's he hiding the knife that he's about to stick into them?

Well, you have to pay for that tax cut somehow, plus aren't all those poor families getting a tax credit?

I can't wait to see what else happens in Africa. I can't imagine what they'll f*ck up there.

[alfredo]

8. I have heard many reports on his Dead Start

ideas. they have all said head start is one of the most successful programs out there. maybe people will start wondering why he wants to mess with it.

[NickDanger]

5. Headstart should be a local and not a federal program

Along with education generally, I'd rather have the states and counties making decisions than the federal government. Along with accountability issues are concerns over whose vision of education gets promoted--fundamentalist Christians and secularists have competing agendas that make national programs less acceptable to either set.

[kysrsoze]

7. Yes, but he's talking about cutting federal funding for the program...

which would leave the cost to the states too.

[Rhiannon12866]

11. Ah ha! That's exactly what Bush* proposes

This particular post caught my attention because I just took part in an ``action,'' sponsored by Act for Change, to save Head Start. Here are the specifics and you can make up your own mind:

Save Head Start

Contributed by the National Head Start Association

The Bush Administration has introduced a plan to dismantle Head Start as a federal program and send it to the states in the form of block grants. The administration claims that this will allow Head Start programs to better coordinate with state pre-school programs.

Whether intended to do so or not, the proposal would, in fact, halt Head Start’s legacy of serving at-risk children, replacing it with a hodgepodge of inconsistent and untested state government programs.

Head Start believes that it is very difficult for a hungry or unhealthy child to focus on learning. That is why it adheres to a comprehensive model that not only educates children but also feeds them and meets their healthcare needs. Head Start also engages parents, enriching their parenting skills at home and involving them as leaders in every local program. Only three states sponsor early childhood programs that include the same range of services that are provided by Head Start.

Since its inception in 1965, Head Start has benefited more than 20 million at-risk children and their families. Independent studies indicate that Head Start children are less likely to fall behind in school or be charged with a crime. They are more likely to complete high school and college, and as adults, they earn more than their peers who did not attend Head Start. The results are clear. Let's tell Congress to stand by America’s low-income children and reject President Bush’s plan to dismantle this amazingly successful program.

http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?ItemId=15206

[fortyfeetunder]

13. Keep it federal -- the states are bankrupt as it is

IIRC, the states are all in dire straits financially. I fail to see the logic in expecting the states to take this program on. I can see the result, Head Start will be inconsistent, diluted, and probably not a priority anymore. Or Bush and his buds will find a way to have "faith-based" Head Start programs...

But I'll be ****'d if there Bush can find MORE money for PRISONS...

[sandnsea]

15. They are local

They're run by a local nonprofit agency that overseas the Head Start. I think sometimes the Head Start creates the nonprofit and sometimes some other locally established community group provides oversight.

George Bush wants to eliminate Head Start altogether and divvy the money up to various local preschools. In other words, privatize it so they can cut it when nobody's looking and it goes away altogether. When programs are privatized, you can't see it and know whether it's working correctly or not. You also don't know where to turn to lodge complaints, don't know you are entitled to certain rights because it's federally funded, lots of things. It becomes invisible.

George Bush would just as soon gather up underpriviledged kids and put them in sweatshops as to give them an education.

[jiacinto]

6. I will say this

There are major differences between the parties. This is a major example of that.

[leesa]

9. The test scores are irrelvant

It has been the greedy Republican plan to cut the program no matter what. Why educate the peons when they are only intended for slave labor or cannon fodder.

[drscm]

10. Bush is now the great educator?

He cuts funding to programs that help the most needy, thereby achieving what? The programs will improve by choking them?

Is this man motivated by anything else except how to funnel more money to his rich buddies?

Clinton recieved a blow job.
But our holy *Bush rapes the country and its people.

[proud patriot]

12. I was a preschool teacher before my life as a home maker

We do not administer tests on children

I have absolutely no idea what test scores bush is refering
to. Tests are just not given to 2-4 year olds

:crazy:

[Rhiannon12866]

14. I suspected as much

but Bush* has learned, because of his success in promoting the war with Iraq, that he can say absolutely anything and not be questioned. I took some psych classes in college and remember being told that Head Start had made all the difference for a generation of children who would have been otherwise been chronically left behind. I truly feel that the man does not care. He needs billions for waging war and is cutting taxes for his rich friends. When is someone going to call him on any of this?!:grr:

[sandnsea]

16. 3rd grade

Studies that 3rd graders in Head Start do no better than the national average, worse maybe I don't remember.

On the topic, when looking at test scores in general, I've noticed 1st and 2nd grade do pretty good in general anyway. Then it all starts a downhill slope from 3rd or 4th grade. From straight test scores, kids look like they do start out happy and ready to learn for the most part, then somewhere along the line it goes caplooey. Any idea why that would happen?

[Rhiannon12866]

17. From what I remember

At some point it is no longer considered ``cool'' to be one of the smart ones in class. For me, this happened in 9th grade, but kids are growing up earlier these days. That's all I can think of.:shrug: