The Eight Billion Dollar Scam

Head Start has been a icon of liberal education reform for as long as I can remember, almost literally, since it began in 1965.  Designed to give children of low income parents a boost entering school, where their performance has traditionally been (and remains) abysmal, doubts over the efficacy of the program have been raised many times down through the years.

In 2011, the Obama administration proposes to budget $8.2 billion (with a b), up 1.1 billion from 2010.  And what do we get for $8.2 billion (with a b)?  Brief learning gains:

Participation in Head Start has positive effects on children’s learning while they are in the program, but most of the advantage they gain disappears by the end of 1st grade, a federal impact study of Head Start programs says.

The article tries hard to put lipstick on the pig, but just can't escape the conclusion that it's largely as waste of time and money.

Deborah Lowe Vandell, the chairwoman of the education department at the University of California, Irvine, said in an e-mail that the study’s analysis of some subgroups of preschoolers participating in Head Start showed the program was more effective in improving the cognitive and academic performance of children most at risk of failing academically, those with the lowest academic performance when they entered Head Start and children with limited proficiency in English.

“At the same time,” she wrote, “I wish that stronger positive effects had been demonstrated for a broader range of children. A possible explanation for these differential effects is that Head Start was not sufficiently challenging for children with stronger cognitive and language skills.”

 So what is Head Start? First, it is a way to transfer federal funds to a favored constituency, teachers and teacher unions.  Second, it is a transfer of wealth from middle class tax payers to low income parents for what amounts to a baby sitting service.  That may well be the most valuable service it performs, but it needn't be disguised as an educational program.

With the deficit the way it is, it's time to end Head Start.