National Head Start Association Statement on H.R. 1 - Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Late Friday, the United States Congress released the text of the Fiscal Year 2011 spending bill the House plans to consider next week

The following statement should be attributed to Yasmina Vinci, executive director of the National Head Start Association:

"Last night we learned the era of a stalwart and historical commitment to sending the most vulnerable among us along the pathway to success is in jeopardy. Some members of Congress have now promised to cut 200,000 children from Head Start programs, a 45 year-old national commitment that pioneered early learning and whole-family approaches as a pathway to lifelong success.  

"The impacts of these cuts will devastate communities across the country at a time when we have been called upon to lead the way as global competitors. How can we begin to meet that challenge when life-saving programs are ripped from beneath the very feet we expect to carry us forward?

"I urge every American to step up and speak out. If we want our country to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world, cutting Head Start makes it much more difficult to grow this great country to greatness."

Yasmina Vinci, executive director of the National Head Start Association (www.nhsa.org) served as the first executive director of the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) and has held leadership positions on a number of governing Boards of national and local organization,.

Additional information about the National Head Start Association can be  found at www.nhsa.org.

SOURCE National Head Start Association