Bob Filner: “I rise to call our attention to one of our Nation's most cost-effective and productive programs: Head Start. Head Start…”

“I rise to call our attention to one of our Nation's most cost-effective and productive programs: Head Start. Head Start is a comprehensive program aimed at preschool age children of low-income families. In addition to providing education, it also includes nutritional services, health screening and treatment, and social services. One of Head Start's strengths is its emphasis on involving parents in their children's education. The idea of Head Start is simple. If you help children prepare for school, and if you work with their parents, they will enter kindergarten better able to learn, develop, and compete. Head Start invests in child development as the core of an antipoverty strategy. In a time of declining resources, our country should protect its most cost-effective programs, especially those that invest in our youngest children, empower families, and support work. Head Start is just such a program. Comprehensive early childhood education programs have been shown to save at least $3 for every $1 invested--by reducing future costs of special education, public assistance, and law enforcement. Rosemary Flores is one of many Head Start success stories. She is a grandmother in San Diego who was recently appointed as custodian of her grandchildren. She says, ``Head Start is like a life raft. It teaches the value of education and the concept of family unity.”