The Sequester: Cuts To Head Start

In Washington County, the budget cuts could kick dozens of low income students out of the classroom and change the school year all together.

"The first thing our program will notice locally is we will have to shorten our school year. We will not have the money to continue through May as we usually do. It's going to have a huge impact," said Brenda Zedlitz, Director of Washington County Head Start.

The sequester won't just affect kids in the classroom, but their entire families as well.

"We will have had to cut classrooms from our program. It isn't just a child, it's a family, so that family may not have a place for their child to go during the day while they work or go to school. So, we could potentially have parents losing jobs. The are not parents who can afford to pay thousands of dollars a year for child care nor could they afford the services that head start gives them. The residual affect in our community is going to be felt because we will probably have children who will be left with inappropriate caregivers, meaning that the chance for abuse of neglext can be greater," said Zedlitz.

The sequester cuts will have a ripple effect from the head start classroom to the Northwest Arkansas community.

"Families are not going to have services, staff are giong to lose their jobs. That's going to change our local economy. It just trickles down and trickles down and trickles down, but at the end of the day , it's children who are not going to be ready for school because services have been cut," she said. "I'm fearful, I am devestated for the effect it's going to have on our children and staff. I will be the one who has to tell our staff this is what we have to do, that's very hard for me, but past all that, I'm a grown up. I'm an adult. There are children's whose lives are at stake here and that's very sad."

So for now, the program waits for Congress to come to a compromise, for the kid's sake.