7 hours Ago
I am a teacher, author, and expert on teaching young children with diverse languages. I have seen first-hand the value of the federal Department of Education, the Head Start program, and the Office of Child Care in our work with children. I am seriously concerned that the current administration will impose lasting harm on children by closing these federal offices and programs.
I have worked with state governments, schools, policy makers, and researchers to create resources for teachers and leaders throughout the U.S..
We have been in classrooms. We listened to teachers and leaders and worked together with the federal offices to provide answers so educators can do what they do best, providing high quality education for all agesThe Department of Education provides information on best practices for K-12 general education, subject specialties, special education and multilingual education. The Office of Head Start and the Office of Child Care are the federal agencies within the Administration for Children and Families, a part of the U.
S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Office of Head Start promotes programs that support more than 800,000 (32,000 in Pennsylvania) low-income preschool children and families.
The Office for Child Care ensures that low-income families have access to high-quality early care experiences for their children.U.S.
Rep. Mackenzie, Sen. McCormick and the Secretary of Education Linda McMahon claim that control of schools should remain with states.
In fact, states already control curriculum and operations. But, their success depends on expertise provided by the federal government that saves states millions of dollars. In my work with the Office of Head Start, for example, I was able to present professional learning webinars that reached 10,000 educators per episode.
I worked with a university on a program for early childhood educators in diverse urban school districts via a Department of Education teacher training grant that allowed us to share what works with all states. Programs like these will disappear if the departments’ is dismantled as President Trump wants or if funding is cut and states and local schools have to pick up the tab.Research shows the value of well-informed education for children’s futures.
The Perry Preschool Project examined the effects of a high-quality preschool program as it followed participants through age 40. Participants exhibited benefits well into adulthood with higher high school graduation rates, fewer arrests, less dependence on welfare and higher contributions to the income tax base. All children need this kind of high-quality start in life.
Think of children who have autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or cerebral palsy who will be getting less help than they need. Think of children who are new to English whose chances of graduating high school go way down when appropriate language classes are not provided.With the proposed cuts, educators will lose access to thousands of pages of research-based information, curated for easy access, to improve outcomes for children of all ages, cultures and abilities.
In this increasingly complex world, educators face many challenges, such as questions about using artificial intelligence tools in classrooms. This was not covered in teacher education courses, so they turn to the federal offices for guidance.We have already seen the work of respected colleagues (and me) eliminated based on a knee-jerk reaction to words like diversity, equity, inclusion and gender.
The diverse children are still in classrooms, but teachers are deprived of the guidance that helped them work effectively.For example, experts created the Curriculum Consumer Report for early childhood education with information to evaluate curriculum models with diversity and inclusion. It has been removed from HeadStart.
gov.Cuts are being made to many federal programs, but the damage can be undone with future legislation. Children are different.
If we shortchange their education during their formative years, it will be too late to fix the damage later. The loss of educational expertise and resources is not just a problem for educators; it is a problem for society as a whole. When we fail to support our teachers, we fail to prepare children to lead us into the future.
We must provide the necessary resources to foster a thriving educational environment that ensures freedom, health and prosperity for all. An informed citizenry is necessary for democracy to function. The hard-working educators and diverse students in the Lehigh Valley deserve the best.
Let your legislators know that the Department of Education and the Offices of Child Care and Head Start must be saved.This is a contributed opinion column. Karen Nemeth is an education consultant and Lehigh Valley resident.
The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual author, and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication. Do you have a perspective to share? Learn more about how we handle guest opinion submissions at themorningcall.com/opinions.
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