9/30/2013

As federal agencies prepare for a possible government shutdown at midnight tonight, it’s unclear if members of Congress have given much thought to the implications of pulling the plug on virtually all federal programs. In fact, over the past several years and in the midst of continual budget debates – over spending and deficits and debts and across-the-board cuts – this isn’t the first time lawmakers have lost sight of the people behind the programs they fund.

Last week, the New America Foundation’s Media Relations Associate, Jenny Lu Mallamo, brought the debate back down to earth with a reminiscence of her time in a Lincoln, Nebraska Head Start program more than 20 years ago. Her parents, Chinese immigrants who didn’t speak English as their primary language, relied on the in-school and at-home services that Head Start provided the family to help Jenny catch up to her preschool-aged peers.

Source: New America Foundation

Available at: http://earlyed.newamerica.net/blogposts/2013/head_start_to_harvard_a_new_america_story-93404