On Wednesday night at the third presidential debate, John McCain said:
By the third grade many times children who were in the Head Start program aren't any better off than the others.
It's no secret that Republicans are no fans of programs to help the poor and disadvantaged in our society. McCain is way off base on this one, and I think the National Head Start Association might have something to say about it. I know I do.
Here's McCain's full statement from the transcript of Wednesday night's debate:
But, again, spending more money isn't always the answer. I think the Head Start program is a great program. A lot of people, including me, said, look, it's not doing what it should do. By the third grade many times children who were in the Head Start program aren't any better off than the others.
Let's reform it. Let's reform it and fund it. That was, of course, out-of-bounds by the Democrats. We need to reform these programs.
This isn't the first time I've heard this criticism of Head Start. Let me begin by stating that I'm no expert on it. I'm not even an educator. I'm a computer programmer. But even I can see that there is something wrong with this statement on the face of it.
Taking McCain to School
Who is Head Start for? From the Wikipedia article:
Head Start was started as part of President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty. A key part of the Great Society domestic agenda, the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 authorized programs to help meet the needs of disadvantaged preschool children.
Disadvantaged preschool children. Hmm. Disadvantaged . . .
So, in other words, kids whose parents didn't enroll them in preschool, as mine did. Kids who may come from broken homes, kids who may be impoverished. Kids whose parents may not have had a single book in the house. Kids who may have never seen their parents reading the newspaper. Kids who may not have grown up watching Sesame Street, or reading Richard Scarry books, or Little Golden books, or other chidren's books.
And according to critics of Head Start like John McCain, it's a big problem that these kids, by the third grade, "aren't any better off than the others."
Aren't any better off? Aren't any better off?
Hey, John McMoron, these are kids who would be WORSE OFF if it wasn't for Head Start. If they're doing as well as their peers who are not disadvantaged, that means Head Start worked, you painfully thick fool.
The goal of Head Start, as I understand it, is to remediate these disadvantaged kids, to get them ready to start school even though their environment is wanting, to bring them up to the level they should be at, the level they deserve, the level they would be at if they weren't suffering from the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune.
Just going by McCain's claims, it sounds to me like it's working.
National Head Start Association
Like I said, I'm no expert, and I don't pretend to be. So what do actual experts have to say about John McCain's assault on Head Start?
Research Clearly Demonstrates That America’s Comprehensive Early Education/Health Program Is Effective, Generates Long-Term Benefits
WASHINGTON, D.C.
October 16, 2008
A wide range of recent research shows that Head Start -- the nation’s premier early childhood and health program now serving about 1 million children and their low-income families each year -- yields major, long-term benefits for the children and families in the program and the communities in which they live, according to the National Head Start Association (NHSA).
Last night, Presidential candidate John McCain asserted that the gains children made from attending Head Start disappear by the time these children reach third grade. NHSA officials pointed out that this statement was based on a nearly 40-year-old study conducted by the Westinghouse Learning Corporation and Ohio University in 1969. Subsequent analysis by Dr. Steven Barnett at the National Institute for Early Education Research and other researchers have found that this cross-sectional study was methodologically flawed and that Head Start has long-term favorable impacts (Barnett, 2003; Campbell and Erlbacher, 1970).
Additionally, more reliable and much more current research demonstrates that Head Start delivers long-term educational, health, economic, and law enforcement benefits:
- An analysis of reliable studies have revealed that Head Start children have higher achievement test scores and high school graduation rates and lower rates of grade repetition and special education than comparable children who did not participate in Head Start (Barnett, 2003; Ludwig and Miller, 2007).
- Head Start reduced mortality rates for children aged 5- to 9-years-old from causes that could have been affected by their participation in Head Start when they were 3- and 4-years-old (Ludwig and Miller, 2007).
- The preliminary results of a longitudinal study of more than 600 Head Start graduates in San Bernardino County, California, showed that society receives nearly $9 in benefits for every $1 dollar invested in these Head Start children. These benefits were projected and include increased earnings, employment, and family stability, and decreased welfare dependency, crime costs, grade repetition, and special education (Meier, 2004).
- Head Start benefits its children and society-at-large by reducing crime and its costs to crime victims (Fight Crime Invest in Kids, 2004; Garces, Thomas, and Currie, 2002).
These guys sound to me like they know what they're talking about, but with a name like the National Head Start Association, they might be a little biased. But you know what? Even if the critics are right, and Head Start kids end up no further ahead, but no further behind their peers, either, then I say it's worth it.
And if it does even more than that? I'd say it was a no-brainer, but if that were true, John McCain would be able to get it.
McCain's Track Record
What's John McCain's history on Head Start? I was curious if he had any track record on this issue. Here's what I found:
From Think Progress:
Sen. McCain consistently voted against funding for Head Start programs and has no plan for expanding access to Pre-K or early childhood education. His plan for a government spending freeze would allow inflation to cut funding for Head Start by over $968 million. Furthermore, the massive deficits his tax plan would rack up could increase pressure for across-the-board cuts that would slash Head Start’s budget by an additional $1.6 billion, and drop over 170,000 children from the rolls.
There's more there, including more links (some to PDFs), and other education topics like NCLB, but I'm focusing on Head Start.
From the AFL-CIO:
McCain Voted Against Funding for Head Start. McCain has voted repeatedly against funding for Head Start programs, as recently as 2005. In 2003, McCain voted against increasing spending on Head Start programs by $24 billion and on after-school programs by $18 billion over 10 years. That year, he also voted against a Democratic effort to add $350 million to Head Start, the federal program for poor preschool children. In 2001, McCain voted against fully funding Head Start to ensure that all eligible children have access. (S.Amdt. 2254 to H.R. 3010, Vote 272, 10/26/05; S.C.R. 23, Vote 86, 3/25/03; H.R. 2660, Vote 333, 9/9/03; H.R. 1836, Vote 154, 5/22/01)
Lots more there on his education policies, but again, I'm just focusing on Head Start today.
Oh, I also found that McCain addressed the NHSA back in 2002. I wonder what he said to them?
Update:
Wow, I went away and when I came back I had 18 new comments! Thanks to everyone who replied, or even who read without commenting. I just wanted to highlight a couple of benefits of the Head Start program that were pointed out by a few people in the comments, which I had been mostly unaware of when I wrote this diary:
Head Start is so much more than just "reading readiness".... Head Start is a full program for both the parents and the kids. ...
What doesn't get talked about it the parental involvement piece. Head Start requires parents to be involved in the process. They teach parents how to advocate for themselves and their kids. They have to volunteer in the program. This is not just a handout program to the impoverished. It is truly a hand up for the entire family.
Well said!
Part of what HS offers is health information and nutrition--it's not simply educational.
[I knew some kids who went to HS.] These were three-year-olds who didn't know colors, shapes, all kinds of things three-year-olds should know. And they got better food through HS than at home.
Head Start — It's more than just preschool education, it's parental education, parental involvement, health information, and nutrition, too!