To the Editor:

It has recently come to my attention that the current administration in Washington, D.C. is asking Congress to eliminate funding for Head Start.

Since its beginning in 1965, Head Start has reached more than 38 million children and families. Today, Early Head Start (ages 0-3) and Head Start (ages 3-5) reaches 750,000 children annually in all 50 states.

These two programs provide early childhood education, nutrition, health services and parent-engagement services for children from low-income families.

Eliminating this 60-year-old program will have a devastating effect on our most at-risk children. They will lose access to life-changing services. Head Start helps close the opportunity gap before it even starts to open.

In rural and underserved areas, it’s really the only support system that families have. It will be devastating for working parents, educators, and communities.

Head Start isn’t just compassionate — it’s smart. Children in the program are more likely to graduate, avoid poverty, and contribute positively to society. And every $1 invested yields up to $9 in return through long-term economic and social benefits.

We can’t afford to lose this. It has had years of bipartisan support. I urge our elected officials like Senators [Charles] Schumer and [Kirsten] Gillibrand to come out strong in support of Head Start and encourage their colleagues to do the same so it can keep serving and saving millions more children in the decades ahead. 

Karen Covert-Jones

Guilderland