Head Start Program: Fraudulent and Ineffective

Written By: David Muhlhausen  |  Posted: Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

The year 2010 will surely go down as a bad year for Head Start-a "Great Society" pre-school program intended to provide a boost to disadvantaged children before they enter elementary school. First, a scientifically rigorous experimental evaluation of Head Start found that the program largely failed to improve the cognitive, socio-emotional, health, and parenting outcomes compared to the outcomes of similar children.[1] Second, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that Head Start centers located in California, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin, and the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area were actively enrolling children from families not qualified to participate in the early education program.[2]

But before Members of Congress get too worried about such fraud denying eligible children access to Head Start, they should understand that, according to scientific studies, the program is ineffective to begin with.

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