On January 8, 2002,
former President Bush signed the education act. The education act states that educators,
principals and staff should follow school rules and meet federally dictated
standards. These Federal reforms to enforce quality and accountability are
forcing more than 130 Head Start agencies to compete for funding according to
the quality and stability of federal performance standards.
The Los Angeles County Office of Education
did not meet the federal performance standards and is one of the agencies at
risk for losing funds.
A federal review found
that seven providers at the L.A County office of Education were put on notice in 2010 for staff not maintaining
satisfactory record keeping and not signing required forms, forcing the Los Angeles office to reapply for its grant. The Los Angeles County Office of Education supervises contracts with
approximately 25 Head Start providers who work with 23,000 infants, toddlers
and preschools.
Many programs are at
stake because the agency that manages these Head Start contracts may lose its
$220-million federal grant. Last year there were $260 million in cuts to California’s early
childhood programs. In addition, a 2012-13 State budget proposal by Governor
Jerry Brown could eliminate $223.7 million in funding. Over all, 125,000
children could be affected if preschool programs and transitional kindergarten are
denied funding for programs.
In 2011, President
Obama announced changes that sounded promising for the future of our children
when he stated, “We can’t wait to give more of our youngest children the same
basic opportunities we all want for our kids. That’s
why today, I’m announcing a new rule that will increase the quality of Head
Start programs around the country.”
Allegedly, the changes
in Head Start were to build classroom quality based on which programs meet the
criteria as a ‘high quality’ education for children, but in reality these federal
reforms stir competition for funding among agencies rather than receiving it
automatically. It is an outrage that administrative
errors can cause a total cut to funds that could abolish early childhood
education for children in poor and working families.
This shows that
government under capitalism does not want to fund schools or provide programs
to the children of poor and working families. The
impact of cuts to early childhood education will assuredly cause a
disproportionate impact on poor women. We must unite all poor and working
families to fight back against the mass de-funding of education at all levels
and the legal loopholes created by pro-capitalist, pro-privatization
politicians that aim to destroy public education.
Although we must continue to fight in
defense of education under this system, real protection for all children and
educators can only be guaranteed with a systemic change from capitalism to
socialism. Under socialism, education and childcare at all levels would be a
guaranteed right that no individual or group would be allowed to profit from.
Socialism is the future that our children deserve.
