From the TIB Network:
Top Memphis law enforcement leaders Shelby County District Attorney General Bill Gibbons, Director James Bolden of the Memphis Police Department and Sheriff Mark Luttrell of Shelby County today released a new report showing that high-quality pre-kindergarten cuts crime. The report also shows that federal funding is inadequate to help Tennessee reach all at-risk kids in the state.
The report, prepared by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, an anti- crime organization of 2,000 police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors and victims of violence, finds that state funded programs serve less than one percent of all 3-and 4-year-olds in Tennessee. It also shows that 20,000 at-risk 4-year-olds are still left unserved by Head Start and state early education programs due to inadequate funding.
Matt's Chat
Just imagine the unholy alliance at work here...NEA/AFT types collaborating with law enforcement AFSCME/AFL-CIO types.Notice the dig at the Bush administration..."...still left unserved by Head Start and state early education programs due to inadequate funding." Indeed. I'll say it again: No Child Left Behind was fully funded and the federal government spends $165 million per year to provide technical assistance to improve Head Start programs. (Source: Head Start Policy Book)
We're supposed to believe that because this cabal of liberals has decided that because of their work there is some sort of connection between crime rates and pre-Kindergarden attendance...
I'm sure these folks are "non-partisan" too...
Am I missing something here? Just asking...
Mark's Remarks
I hate to burst the bubble of these libs, but Head Start has been around and available for about 40 years now, and crime rates for inner city kids regardless have continued to rise. Many of the kids I taught in Covington a few years ago had criminal records but were products of Head Start. It takes more than Pre-K training, it takes parental and individual responsibility. Leave it to these people to pass the buck to taking more of our money for programs that, it can be argued, have failed to show adequate reduction in crime over the last 40 years.
