Head Start valuable, should receive funds

I am trying to understand what our children did to justify cuts in government programs that provide early childhood education. Head Start has been proven to provide valuable educational support to more than 700 children in our area.

The local Head Start program will cut nine programs to four by Friday. This is because of less funding from the state, called Wrap Around, to help keep the programs open. This means teachers are to be laid off and parents will not have child care in order to work and they may lose their jobs.

The federal government has funded Head Start for this fiscal year, but it may not be funded to capacity for fiscal 2012. Head Start allows parents an opportunity to build their self-worth and empower them to become self-sufficient and off assistance. Poor children did not cause the debt crisis in our state and nation. The Bush tax cuts allowed this to happen several years ago.

We have to look at our future. Please let your politicians know that these programs provide many valuable opportunities to our community.

Judy Smith

McDowell

Cedar Rapids