Kucinich Seeks To Expand Head Start To An Additional 1.5 Million Children
The following is a press release from June 12, 2003, by Kucinich's office in Congress.
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Kucinich Seeks To Expand Head Start To An Additional 1.5 Million Children
Kucinich Amendment Would Open The Doors Of Head Start To The Children Of America's Working Poor
Today, Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH) will offer an amendment in the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Education Reform to expand Head Start to an additional 1.5 million children.
Kucinich's amendment would open the doors of Head Start to the children of America's working poor. The amendment would ensure that children who come from families with income equal to 200 percent of the poverty line and below â€" the working poor - would have full day and fully funded access to the child and parental services that Head Start provides.
"This amendment is a necessary response to the fact that today a working family may also be a poor family," stated Kucinich. "And today a working family may also be a family without health care; today a working family may be a family that cannot afford childcare and may not be able to pay the rent. And today a working family may also be a homeless family -- one fifth of all homeless people are employed."
The proportion of Americans living in poverty rose significantly in 2001 for the first time in eight years and that the income of middle-class households fell for first time since 1991. In all, 9.2 million children, almost one in eight, lack health insurance and 90 percent of them live in working families. In the richest nation on earth, one in six children is poor and millions of others hover just above the poverty line.
"Today I ask this Congress and the members of this Committee to give something back to the working poor for what they give day in and day out," continued Kucinich. "In the process we will give back to thousands of children who need Head Start."
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