To the editor:

Parents in America are working harder than ever to support their families and to find the best care for their children so they can start school ready to learn. While the president has expressed strong interest in early learning, his budget leaves millions of young children behind. His proposal for early learning programs would actually result in young children losing child care and/or Head Start services. Yet, the gaps are enormous. With current funding levels, only one in eight eligible children actually receives assistance from the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), which provides working parents assistance in paying for child care, and only three out of five low-income preschoolers eligible for Head Start can participate in the program. If we want our children to enter school ready to read and to succeed in life, they must have access to early learning opportunities.

We can do better for children and the parents struggling to make ends meet in Lawrence by significantly increasing funding levels this year for child care and Head Start. In addition, with 7 million children left home alone after school each week, older children need more access to academically, physically and culturally enriching after-school activities. An increase in the 21st Century Community Learning Centers after-school program would provide more adolescents with a safe and supportive place to go when school ends.

It is time for the country to invest in a “first-things-first” approach to helping our children succeed. We need to make the children of Lawrence and across the country a priority we can afford to get it right from the start and support the care of our children; we can’t afford not to.

Meredith Norfolk,

Lawrence