Shutdown Imperils Head Start as Aid to Israel Sails Through
While AP highlights Head Start programs facing funding cutoffs due to the government shutdown, leaving 'tens of thousands of the nation’s neediest preschoolers' in limbo, the same legislative body managed to greenlight a fresh round of 'aid' to Israel with bipartisan zeal. In November 2023, while these domestic programs teetered, the House passed a bill (HR 7217) providing $14.3 billion in
military assistance to Israel. That bill, which bypassed usual funding protocols, sailed through with 226 votes for, 196 against. One might ask if the 'vulnerability' of these domestic programs is a budget problem, or a priority problem. Politicians routinely declare children our future, yet when budgeting, appear to differentiate between futures worth investing in. The current White House budget
request for Head Start for Fiscal Year 2024 is approximately $11.9 billion. Meanwhile, the U.S. has poured over $3 billion annually into aid for Israel since 1985, often with less debate than required to keep a preschool open. Apparently, 'fiscal responsibility' is a virtue reserved for America's most vulnerable, not its geopolitical patrons.