Question Title

* 1. DO YOU AGREE TO SIGN-ON TO THE FOLLOWING LETTER TO CONGRESS?

Dear Member of Congress,

As business leaders, we understand the importance of fiscal responsibility, of balancing the books each year. But we also understand that short-term savings can sometimes lead to long-term losses. We recognize that Congress has to make difficult decisions to get our nation’s financial books in order, but balancing these deficits with cuts to the Head Start and Early Head Start programs is a prime example of good intentions gone awry.

For our businesses to succeed we need a healthy, educated, stable work force and Head Start is one of the best ways to ensure that students enter school ready to learn and succeed. Researchers, academics, even a Nobel Laureate economist have convinced us that quality early childhood education has enormous short- and long-term benefits. In the short-term, for every dollar we spend in a community on comprehensive early education efforts like Head Start, two dollars are returned to the local economy.

In the long-term, research has convincingly demonstrated that spending on comprehensive early childhood efforts like Head Start produces a 10% annual return over the life of a child. Better school performance, fewer resources devoted to special education, lower health care costs for the child and the family, reduced instances of incarceration and arrest, longer life expectancy – these are all proven outcomes of a high-quality comprehensive early education program like Head Start. Most importantly, these programs produce more high school graduates—an absolutely critical step to success in the workforce. Federal Reserve Bank Chair Ben Bernanke, in recent testimony to Congress, suggested, “Research increasingly has shown the benefits of early childhood education and efforts to promote the lifelong acquisition of skills for both individuals and the economy as a whole.”

As we look ahead and plan for the long-term needs of our businesses, we are convinced that cutting spending on Head Start now means spending significantly more in later years to train, remediate, and rehabilitate the young adults we will need to hire. Let’s take this opportunity to shape a successful future. Ensure that Head Start has the funds it needs today so we can have the workforce we need tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Kevin Carnes
President of Educational Division
Lakeshore Learning

*Please note: The view and opinions expressed in this letter are solely those of the undersigned and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of their employers, parent, affiliate or subsidiary companies.

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