Politics as usual on the BOE

One of the most difficult things for an attorney to overcome is a jury that has made up its mind before hearing the facts,or even worse, irrespective of the facts.  That is exactly what we had at last Wednesday’s Board of Ed meeting.

All that we heard about over the last few weeks is how proposed funding cuts to Head Start will have a negative impact on the kids.  No doubt that they will, but the real issue is whether those effects be greater than the negatives of cutting kindergarten to ½ day and eliminating paraprofessionals for kindergarten.  To most unbiased observers, funding Head Start while cutting kindergarten to ½ day and eliminating paraprofessionals makes absolutely no sense. That is especially true when you consider the following.

• Head Start is a discretionary program; Danbury is not legally obligated to fund Head Start.
• In 1998 Congress mandated a study on the effectiveness and impact of the Head Start Program.   The results of the multi-year study were released in January of 2010.  You can find a copy at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/impact_study/index.html. This is the most comprehensive and complete study ever conducted on Head Start.
• The study found that students randomly assigned to Head
  Start performed no better on cognitive measures by the end of kindergarten and first grade.  Perhaps that is why the Department of Health
  and Human Services delayed the release of the study for three years until
  January, 2010.  
• More than $167 billion has been spent on Head Start since it was launched in 1965 and current spending is roughly 7 billion a year. That is a staggering amount of money for a program that the experts say does not provide any benefits beyond first grade.

If these findings are not enough to engender skepticism by the BOE and our community, then what will?  Let me be clear, I am not a proponent or an opponent of Head Start. However, it makes absolutely no sense to fund Head Start and then graduate those kids to ½ day kindergarten with no paraprofessionals.  The regression for most kids will be swift and complete.  And I haven’t even started talking about the significant achievement gap in grades K-12.

Several teachers did show the courage to come forward and speak out for full day Kindergarten and it appeared that the vast majority of people present at the meeting wanted the BOE to concentrate on the priorities and difficult issues facing K-12.  Unfortunately, they were ignored and it was clear to most that this jury was rigged. In fact, it was rigged last November by Lynn Taborsak and the Democratic Town Committee, along with Mr. Jannelli who is a republican in name only.  The facts were ignored, the voices of the people were muted and votes were cast in conformance with a political ideology and for a program that has a 40 year legacy of failure.  That is a shame, because once you start ignoring facts simply because they don’t coincide with your political beliefs, well, then it really is no longer about the kids. That is political activism in its purest form.

Folks, this is bigger than Head Start, bigger that ½ day Kindergarten, and bigger than our schools. We are slowly watching our Nation crumble one community at a time because of a political ideology and agenda that a majority of us do not share.  And the real irony is that it really isn’t about the kids; it’s about the money.  For those who don’t believe that I suggest that you do a little homework and follow the money trail.  The Connecticut Institute for Communities is the
non-profit that runs Head Start.  In the interest of transparency, I urge them to put their federal form 990’s on their website. 

In closing, I urge you all to be diligent, become a skeptic, and hold your elected officials accountable. Our kids, all of our kids, depend on it. And so does our Nation.