Letter to the Editor: Don’t Balance the Budget on the Backs of Poor Children

To the Editor:

Head Start and Early Head Start programs are facing devastating budget cuts that will slam shut the window of opportunity for nearly 70,000 at-risk children. By failing to avert the budget sequester, our elected officials have missed the opportunity to lead by example and place the most vulnerable among us on a pathway to lifelong success.

As the Executive Director of the Center for Human Services, I can tell you that these cuts will be particularly catastrophic to the poor children and families we serve. For nearly fifty years Head Start has been getting results in preparing our neediest children for school, and leading the early childhood field in innovation and quality through both high standards and relentless insistence on excellence.

Head Start and other non-defense discretionary programs — at 3.4% of the budget — are not the cause of our growing debt. Congress needs to act quickly to restore fiscal stability and maintain funding for at-risk children. Our nation’s budget simply can not be balanced on the backs of poor children. 

Beratta Gomillion