| LIVING THE AMERICAN DREAM THROUGH HEAD START
The Philadelphia Inquirer published the following commentary written by Mai Miksic, Children First’s Deputy Director of Policy. Join Mai and other Head Start supporters by joining us in Washington, D.C. next Friday. (See “Advocate & Serve” below.)
There is nothing more inspiring or American than the story of a young person who rises from poverty to go to an Ivy League university, enters a successful career, and then contributes positively to our society.
This story is part of the American promise that if you work hard, you can get ahead; a story so core and central to our identity as a country that we see it replicated again and again in movies and television shows. A story familiar to our Vice President JD Vance, as he, himself, has lived it.
It is also a story I am deeply familiar with, having come from a low-income background but working hard enough that I eventually received a graduate degree from Columbia University. The difference between the vice president and myself is that I recognize that I did not get to where I am in my life without help from others, and specifically from programs like Head Start, an early childhood education program that continues to be a game changer for children and their families living in poverty.
Head Start prepares young children for formal schooling, building the foundation for lifelong learning. But it does even more, providing health and developmental screenings, nutritious meals, job training, and career readiness workshops for parents, all while enabling parents and caregivers to work. For families living at or below the federal poverty line, Head Start is a lifeline and a gateway to a better life for parents and their children.
My earliest memories are of Head Start: warm hugs, picture books, alphabet songs, and feeling a sense of security and belonging. The nurturing environment of a high-quality early childhood program is essential to the development of the architecture of the brain.
For me, Head Start was where I developed a love of learning that would eventually take me miles away from home to New York City, attending one of the best universities in our country.
For my immigrant parents, who could not be prouder of me, Head Start allowed them to work so they could build savings and eventually buy their own home. Head Start is part of the American dream, a promise that each and every person in this country can succeed regardless of where they come from.
My earliest memories are of Head Start: warm hugs, picture books, alphabet songs, and feeling a sense of security and belonging.
And yet, this critical anti-poverty program, first launched in 1965, is currently under attack in Washington. First, Head Start cuts were a key feature of Project 2025. Then, initial budget documents leaked, showing a cut to Head Start, citing “The federal government should not be in the business of mandating curriculum, locations, and performance standards for any form of education.”
While the Trump administration’s budget proposal does not include a cut to Head Start, any deep cuts to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services budget could eliminate funding, ending a program that, for decades, has changed the lives of over 39 million children since 1965. Currently, in Pennsylvania alone, nearly 27,000 children attend Head Start, and more than 8,800 infants and toddlers benefit from Early Head Start.
Cherry-picked studies have called Head Start out for being ineffective, citing “fade-out” effects of test scores in kindergarten and first grade. Yet, for every study citing fade-out effects, there are even more studies showing that Head Start boosts the lifelong prospects of graduates, also known as “sleeper effects.” In other words, the impact of Head Start extends well beyond immediate test scores in kindergarten and first grade.
Head Start alumni have higher high school graduation rates, are more likely to hold down a job, and eventually, like me, Head Start graduates are more likely to go on to college. To go even further, there is evidence that Head Start has intergenerational impacts, with Head Start alumni being more likely to read to their children, and children of parents who attended Head Start having greater academic achievement and less engagement with the criminal justice system.
For the bargain price of $11 billion of a $6.8 trillion federal budget, or 0.7% of our discretionary spending, we can ensure hundreds of thousands of low-income children can receive high-quality early childhood education and family support. Head Start pays for itself, with the return on investment being greater than the cost of the program. Head Start allows children and their working families to pursue their American dreams. |
