Argumentative Essay On Head Start

Words: 545
Pages: 3

Over the past five years, high school graduation rates for low-income students in the United States have increased from 70% to 76%. However, there is still a significant gap between to the national average of 83% (Forbes, 2017). Education has always been looked upon as a tool for low-income individuals to advance socially and to increase their annual income. Nevertheless, children who come from an impoverished background, on average, begin their kindergarten education behind their peers in cognitive, literacy, and social behavioral levels. To combat this disparity, Early Childhood Head Start was created and implemented in the United States. President of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson, created the Head Start program in 1965. It was a result of Johnson’s “War on Poverty” campaign. Head Start was designed to help …show more content…
These cuts have resulted in fewer resources in classrooms, teachers, and students. In particular, Wisconsin participated in significant budget cuts to the Head Start program between 2012 and 2014. This resulted in over 800 head start programs to shut down over the two years, placing the burden on low-income families. However, over recent years there has been more funding towards head start programs in Wisconsin and many of those head start programs reopened their doors. Despite this, many states will be voting on their budget at the start of 2018. Like 2012, the Head Start program is at the top of the list for budget cuts. The reasoning behind these budget cuts to the program is not just to reduce the state government's budget, but some believe that the Head Start Program has very little long-term cognitive, social, and behavioral benefits for low-income children. Debates have been made over the long-term benefits of Head Start and some say the benefits disappear by the time children reach the first grade (Lips and Muhlhausen,