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Head Start is not a failure

Preschool-age boy practicing writing his name at a table in a Head Start classroom.
Dustin Dwyer
/
Michigan Radio

The debate over federal spending cuts has made Head Start a major topic of conversation in Washington. Leaders from both parties warn that tens of thousands of kids will lose a chance at Head Start’s preschool program, if the across-the-board spending cuts are allowed to happen.

To some critics, cutting Head Start would be a good thing. They think it is a failure, and not worth the money. 

To analyze the argument,we took a closer look at the study often used to criticize Head Start's effectiveness and visit a Head Start classroom in Grand Rapids.

Listen to the full story on our State of Opportunity page. 

Dustin Dwyer reports enterprise and long-form stories from Michigan Public’s West Michigan bureau. He was a fellow in the class of 2018 at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard. He’s been with Michigan Public since 2004, when he started as an intern in the newsroom.