Governor's Budget Cuts Head Start Funds 3-31-09

There is a downside to Governor O'Malley's decision to submit a supplemental budget that was out of balance.  By not offering a budget blueprint for $488 million in cuts necessary to balance the budget, the decisions on the spending reductions were left to those "pesky" legislators in the State House. 

This results in a major cut of state funds to Maryland's Head Start programs. 

When the House Appropriations Committee was looking for fund swaps of federal stimulus funds for state general fund appropriations, they took out the state money supporting existing Head Start centers.

However, the federal Department of Health and Human Services has informed the Maryland State Department of Education that the federal stimulus funds can only be used for program expansions and enhancements to Head Start - not for ongoing costs.

That leaves O'Malley in quite a predicament.  Tomorrow he is on the stage with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan at Doswell E. Brooks Elementary School in Capitol Heights, Maryland.  How does he respond to the fact that he has cut Head Start programs in Maryland?

Moreover, he is in Prince George's County where the Head Start cuts directly affect the public school budget.  All Head Start centers are directly incorporated into the public school system in Prince George's County.