Albany Citizen One: Head Start Getting a Glance

The New York Senate is getting off to a slow sart with a resolution making today Korean/American Day in New York. Unfortunately, I got the memo after I ate some of the Deli's chili for lunch. You may not know this about me but I've got a bit of Korean culter in my family. My sister in law, now deceased, couldn't speak a likc of English nor I a lick of Korean. But she wanted to learn how to cook spaghetti and I wanted to learn how to make bulgogi and kimchee...fair trade. (My Italian uncle's mother...the matriarch, taught me how to cook some sauce.)

So, I bought a six pack and we broke down the language barrier. Soon I was fermenting and marinating in Korean. Wish I had gotten the menu in time. I didn't get any bulgogi today, but I may need to make the effort on the way home. Happy Korean American Day.

All that excitement and a rules meeting is called off the floor. I know, I should run down there for it but I figure that, if Senator DeFran decided to stay in the chamber, I could stay in the chamber. After all, I have a bill of interest I want to share with you.

Okay, so we've got a bill which is seemingly going no where. The sponsor is Senator Flannigan and it has to do with Head Start monitoring. Perhaps you know that I used to be associated with the Community Action Programs and their program, Head Start. I have a few issues with Head Start. Ya see, we are in our 4th generation of income qualified Head Start students. This program, which is incorporated to break the cycle of poverty, should have been put out of its misery after it's first 20 years of thye perpectuation of poverty but, by then, a cottage industry to "end poverty" had blossomed around the concept that the country could socially engineer away our low income community.

Didn't happen.

This Flannigan bill, which doesn't have a companion over in the Assembly chamber, calls for State Ed to report on the all day child care facilities. Here's the lingo:

The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of the office of children and family services and the commissioner of health,shall examine, evaluate and make recommendations concerning early child hood education in day care centers, including group and small day care. The department shall review and analyze the following: existing requirements for early childhood education for children zero to five years old in all day care settings; educational/training requirements of all day care employees supervising children; health and social services available to children in day care settings; and all federal, state and local day care funding streams

Ya see, right now the Head Start and Early Head Start programs are monitored by OCFS for their health and safety but there is no monitoring of the education services provided to our children between 0 and 5 and there is no one, except the foxes in that hen house, monitoring the progress of the children.

Ya see, if the program isn't resolving long term solutions, the taxpayers need to stop paying for it. A 2007 report, estimates that the program provides 1,000,000 children with education services (and day care) at a 2007 cost of $7 BILLION dollars. Why are we paying for a program that is not providing the ultimate result, a successful student who knows how to learn. Perhaps our children could better be served by giving the charters or the public schools the funding and letting them provide the service. Hey, wouldn't ya rather your child have a teacher with a degree in eduation?

Source: http://www.albanycitizenone.com/2011/06/head-start-getting-glance.html

sun news telugu news headlines today meghan mccain adrianne curry john demjanjuk san antonio weather