Reply #2: Yeah, and HeadStart has been proven to provide at LEAST a 4:1 ROI.

[HopeHoops]

Several studies have compared children who participate in HeadStart to those who do not but would qualify and tracked them over their school years, factoring in extra costs like special education, enrichment classes, summer school, and other costs incurred by the school district. Every dollar spent on HeadStart for a child (on average) results in at least a 4x savings over the elementary and secondary school years. Some rank even higher and as I recall it was for areas with higher impoverishment (mostly rural).

No, I don't have a handy link, but I've read the reports over the years. My wife was a head teacher for Head Start in the mid 80's and has maintained an interest in the program. She had some real doozies, too - like an aunt and nephew in the same class (same age) from a mother/grandmother (same person) who would scream obscenities so loudly that she could be heard on the far corner of the upper-most level of the church basement her classroom was located in. Curiously, while HeadStart was not allowed to expel children, they DID have the authority to expel disruptive parents. :D Unfortunately, this resulted in her pulling both kids out of the program.