Both liberal Democratic and conservative Republican governors tout it. Head Start's impressive public relations triumph should surprise no one. With every social catastrophe averted, we'll save ourselves a lot of worry, trouble, and money. Head Start's sales pitch works wonderfully. Business leaders like the investment rhetoric.
Journalists love all the photo opportunities with cute, smiling kids.
Second, it assumes that children's futures are fundamentally malleable, that a brief outside intervention can make an indelible impact on most children's lives despite the continuing influence of both heredity and environment. And third, the Head Start thesis assumes not only that successful early intervention is pos- sible but that government is an appropriate and effective provider of it. All three of those propositions are false. Head Start's hucksters, all smiles and promises, have sold the public on a shiny prototype that bears little resemblance to what will actually be provided and, upon closer examination, is an empty shell with nothing under the hood. Before Amer- ican policymakers sign anything, they'd better take a good look at what they're getting.