The number of low-income children in Head Start's preschool programs in Ohio will drop by more than 1,800 during this school year because of automatic federal spending cuts.
The Office of Head Start says those cuts will reduce its preschool ranks by more than 57,000 children nationwide. More than a million children are served each year by the programs, which help prepare them for elementary school and give them meals and health care.
Barbara Haxton, the executive director of Ohio Head Start Association Inc., tells The Cincinnati Enquirer teachers have been cut and student waiting lists have been extended at most Head Start preschools and affiliates in the state.
Haxton says the cuts also mean no services, such as health care, for nearly 200 Ohio babies and their families.