Trends in Educational Funding - Funding Early Childhood Education

Head Start is supported by both Democrats and Republicans. The chart shows that monetary support for the program has increased steadily. Since the program began in 1965, more than $35 billion has been invested. Funding nearly tripled in the 1990s under the Bush and Clinton administrations. George W. Bush proposed only a 2% increase for Head Start in 2003, with a portion of the funds earmarked for literacy training of all Head Start teachers in "scientifically-based" methods (how to teach a child to hold a book, for example).

Funding covers 50 states, the District of Columbia, territories, American Indians, and migrant programs. The 1994 reauthorization of the Head Start Act established the Early Head Start program for low-income families with infants and toddlers. In fiscal year 2001, $558 million of the $6.2 billion appropriated for Head Start went to Early Head Start programs.

Children Under 6 in Poverty and Children Enrolled in Head Start (thousands): 1969-2000

The average expenditure per Head Start child was $6,633 in 2000-01. The money covers a paid staff of 195,000 (often parents of enrolled children) and support activities such as training. In 2000-01 there were 18,735 centers and 48,512 classrooms.

Some 18 million children have enjoyed Head Start since its inception. Despite the billions of dollars appropriated, Head Start has always been underfunded. It serves only about one-third of eligible children. The small chart shows the number of children under 6 in poverty; Head Start serves children 3-5 years old. The Children's Defense Fund estimates that for $3.3 billion more a year, Head Start could be fully funded.

Head Start opponents like John Hood, an adjunct scholar with the conservative Mackinac Center for Public Policy, contend the money would be better spent on child care in the private or nonprofit sector and later for vouchers for private or parochial schools. Hood asks: "Why not fix the school system itself, rather than devise new and expensive Federal supplements to it? … Early intervention never could make as much of a difference to a child as 13 years of quality education could." He questions the assumption that it is possible to overcome the influence of heredity and environment through a brief early intervention. So far, though, Head Start remains the most politically palatable way to help poor children so they can start public school on a more level footing.

Head Start departed from the usual way of delivering federal dollars by bypassing public bureaucracies and sending the money to community social service groups deemed best able to identify children in need. Parents are expected to contribute to the program in some way, usually by volunteering.

Some Head Start programs have been hugely successful (particularly those with high parental involvement), some have underperformed, some have become entrenched bureaucracies. Some have been downright crooked: a Cleveland group allegedly invented dozens of children and gave them fake names to bring in extra funds. In the mid-1990s Congress demanded accountability from Head Start grantees in exchange for more funding.

One frequent criticism of Head Start grantees: they rely too heavily on undertrained teachers. Little wonder: the average pay for teachers in early education programs is $16,000 a year, about the median annual earnings of manicurists and pedicurists (Head Start teachers average $21,000). The trend is toward universal, mandatory kindergarten and expansion of all early childhood education. Any hope of such expansion will depend on overcoming opposition to spending money to raise teacher salaries. The National Center for Education Statistics predicts a shortage of more than 2 million teachers between 1998-2008, with 700,000 of them needed in rural and high-poverty areas.

President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 authorized $2.85 billion for Improving Teacher Quality State Grants. Will this contribute to teacher satisfaction and retention? There is some evidence that raising standards can help to alleviate teacher shortages, provided there is an accompanying rise in pay.

The next panel looks at how the federal government is looking out for the big kids.

Sources: Charts: Head Start data. Online. Available: http://www2.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/hsb/research/. May 15, 2002. Poverty data. Online. Available: http://wwwcensusgov/hhes/poverty/histpov/hstpov20html. May 15, 2002. Hood, John. "Caveat emptor: the Head Start scam." USA Today (Magazine). May 1993. p. 75. "Children Deserve A Fair Share of the Federal Budget Surplus." Children's Defense Fund. Online. Available: http://www.cdfactioncouncil.org. May 15, 2002. Debra Viadero. "Education Researchers Unsure of Federal Attention to Field." Education Week. 12 April 2002 Online. Available: http://www.edweek.org. May 17, 2002.