About Virginia Head StartVirginia Head Start Association 2010 Annual ReportDear Friends of Head Start: It is a question that cannot be put to rest: “Does Head Start work?” Especially in these hard economic times, when everyone from the US Congress to the local town council are looking for ways to streamline budgets, Head Start is under scrutiny unparalleled in its 45-year history. Head Start and other early childhood programs are easy targets for the budget knives, often seen as expendable. However, everyone from a Nobel Prize winner in Economics to military commissions tout the advantages of early childhood programs as one of the best investments in America’s future. Early childhood services have been proven to narrow the achievement gap, increase high school graduation rates, reduce crime and delinquency, and yield up to $7 for every public dollar invested. With this Annual Report, we renew our conviction: Head Start WORKS in Virginia and for Virginia. It not only provides jobs for over 2700 staff persons, it provides the means for parents who otherwise could not afford child care to get jobs or enter job training or college. As increasing numbers of Virginia families have faced job cutbacks, the inquiries to our office seeking quality care for their children have increased exponentially. Head Start is undoubtedly one of the most highly regulated early childhood programs in the world. We do not back away from that scrutiny. All recipients of public funds should be held accountable for the appropriate use of those funds. These days, the media seems filled with examples where people point out the shortcomings of Head Start. With this Report, we hope to be able to shed some light on the depth and breadth of this unique national program and how it has been changing lives for over 45 years. Maxine McKinney, Executive Director and Christopher Austin, President
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