New Jersey Senators Announce New Head Start Facility Coming To Jersey City

By • Feb 23rd, 2012 • Category: Blog, News

U.S. Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) have come back from Washington with $998,640 for the Jersey City Housing Authority to construct a new Head Start facility in the city.

“Head Start is one of the great success stories in American education,” said Senator Lautenberg, a member of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee, which funds HUD, in a statement. “This new facility will help level the playing field in Jersey City and make sure that children from low-income families develop the skills they need to succeed in elementary school and beyond. I will continue fighting for federal funding that brightens the futures of children in New Jersey.”
 
“Study after study has confirmed that there is nothing as important as investing in our children’s early childhood development and education,” said Senator Menendez in the statement. “Every parent, regardless of income, wants their child to have the opportunity to reach their full potential. This funding will allow more families to access the services and support they need for their children by expanding Jersey City’s Head Start services.”

The federal funds will expand a housing authority property to make room for Head Start, with Jersey City Child Development Centers, Inc. and the Jersey City One-Stop Career Center partnering to offer educational programs. The facility aims to help low-income Jersey City children with these programs. Head Start’s facility is expected to begin being constructed later in 2012. 

The grant comes thanks to HUDS’s Capital Fund Education and Training Community Facilities Program.

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is a staff writer for the Jersey City Independent.
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  • eyeonhudson

    Another million wasted on a prgram that has been shown to have no lasting effect on childrens’ education. All gains credited to Head Start are erased by the end of the first grade. “In other words, most of the advantages in learning that children gained because of Head Start disappeared by the time they finished 1st grade.” – Education Week, January 14, 2010 – http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/01/14/18headstart.h29.html

    The children who have been placed in Head Start programs do no better than those who do not participate. It is simply a welfare handout of free child care given to people who should have known they couldn’t afford to have children in the first place, and should be treated as such. “A million here, a million there…”

  • AlCaponeForMayor

    How big of a paper bag is needed to hold $998,640? Make sure it doesn’t pass too close to “America’s Golden Door” (the back door of City Hall)

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/6VK72U2YZOFTPB5723ZKMEFVM4 Carly

    Saying that Head Start doesn’t work is a misreading of the study data. Testable effects lessen over time. But other studies have shown long term benefits to high-quality preschool (and even this study shows that two years is better than one, proving that more of it is in fact better) have lasting effects that are not testable, such as lower dropout rates, which is itself associated with lower incarceration rates.