Federal funding needed to increase enrollment in Head Start programs in Nebraska
The National Institute for Early Education Research released a study and concluded that $10 billion dollars is the amount needed to raise enrollment in Head Start programs in impoverished communities.
The money would also help solve racial and ethnic disparities in Head Start and Early Head Start programs as well as help pay – and retain – quality educators.
"We've seen the effects of poverty and we've seen the effects of high-quality education programs, so Head Start really does have a role in improving lives of children and their families," Allison Friedman-Krauss, an assistant professor with NIEER, through Rutgers University, said.
From the 2018-19 year to the 2020-2021 year – skipping over 2019-2020 due to the COVId-19 pandemic disrupting schools – Nebraska saw 607 fewer children enrolled in Head Start and 90 fewer enrolled in Early Head Start, according to the study.
Friedman-Krauss is hoping through federal funding states can increase enrollment among children living in poverty.
"It's really about the child and the family and giving them a safe place to be that nurtures them and helps them develop and learn and be ready for school," Friedman-Krauss said.
At Educare of Omaha Inc. they're focused on investing in children through paying teachers.
"It would allow us to pay what we want to pay our teachers, which is a livable wage," Jamalia Jones, the Senior Director of Operations with Educare, said.
Educare has five locations in Omaha and says enrolling children of all income levels, races and backgrounds benefit the state as a whole.
"What we give them now we reap in the future with our communities," Jones said.
Read more from the NIEER here.