DO NOT CUT THE BUDGET FOR HEADSTART AND PUNISH THE PRESCHOOLERS

Our children our future this is espcially true if your a parent its really hard to be a low income parent and to be able to provide your little ones with the same advantages as other kids whose parents are blessed and able to afford to spend money on special preschools or be able to afford medical and dental and be able to make ends meet. Headstart is a blessing for parents whose children are low income our son is in his last year of headstart and they have been a godsend my husband and I are both low income and we are both disabled my husband is a disabled veteran its hard to make ends meet. Our son has thrived at headstart since he is an only child he has been able to make positive and hopefully lifelong friendships with the other kids his age and has learned socialization skils and how to problem solve but he has also learned how to get skills ready for kindergarden he knows his alphabet and counting and I appreciate how they have worked with my son on helping him learn to start writitng and cutting and use his hand muscles he has learned so much he even likes to draw pictures alot better. Even though my son will be starting kindergarden next year it would be heartbreaking too see the budget cuts from the sequester being done on this wonderful program and it would be a big injustice espeially to all the families and decades of children who are living proof of how wonderful headstart has been not only do they help the kids get prepared for kindergarden academically but they also do prevenitve screenings and help kids with any kind of special problems or needs so that they can get that early help for things when its crucial.. My son loves his teachers and all the teachers and the staff at headstart so much and so do us parents they help out with nutrition and teach kids about brushing their teeth and washing hands and give us parents help and the resources to help us transition our kids to kindergarden and to help us with reources so we can help our kids do well for the future. Please do not cut funding to any headstart programs its not right to punish low income preschoolers and their parents who are trying to give them a chance at a good education and a headstart so to speak in life and to help set a positive tone for all of their school years. Please sign this petition if you have been touched by the headstart program whether you are a parent or a kid who was lucky enough to be in headstart or if you work for headstart and if your an educator that knows that the program really does work! Headstart is a really special school for kids and as a parent I feel that it does more for kids than even a preschool that you have to pay for. I am urging all the politicians to put the preschoolers ahead of politics and let the future kids at headstart have a chance to have a real headstart in life too!