I'm Mad As Heck (And Hell, Too)

Work Wednesday

When Aaron Sorkin, screenwriter for The Social Network gave a shout out at Sunday's Oscars to that other "movie with 'network' in the title," I couldn't help but think of the original's most famous line. For those of you who don't remember, it's "I'M MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE."

If you look around right now, there are a lot of people feeling this way - from Egypt to Libya to Wisconsin and, now, Ohio - with good reason. (Hopefully, they've only adopted only the mantra, not the mental instability of Network's Howard Beale character.)

Now, I'm feeling it too. With my "mommy" vocabulary, I'd have to say I'm as mad as "heck," but with my blogger lingo, I'm free to say the "H" word. So, here goes: I AM as mad as hell.

I am mad as hell at the assault on women that seems to be on overdrive this year. At the attempt to change the legal concept of rape. The House vote to defund Planned Parenthood and deprive women of critical health and family planning like HIV tests, cancer screenings, birth control and gynecological exams. At the enactment of bogus regulations intended to shut down abortion clinics in Virginia. The list goes on and it's only the beginning of March.

I'm also mad as hell at what's going on in my own backyard. Yes, right here in Maryland. In Frederick County, an hour, give or take, from my home and Washington, D.C.

Frederick County's Board of Supervisors voted a few weeks ago to relinquish all its funding - more than half the budget - for its Head Start program, which provides poor, at-risk, preschoolers with critical educational, nutritional, and medical services.  As of today, only seven of the 16 Head Start classes were able to open. That is truly a tragedy for the workers and low income families that rely on Frederick's Head Start program. (On a related note, please read this piece from Paul Krugman on the devastating effects of state and local spending cuts on children.)

But what's put me over the edge is the rationale that two of the county's Republican commissioners used to justify their cost-cutting move. Basically, the two commissioners, Kirby DeLauter and Paul Smith, told the Head Start mothers "to stay home with their children, and not hold jobs outside the home."  A partial transcript from the hearing is here.

And it gets worse. When criticized by a broad group of moms and community leaders, Smith refused to back down, arguing that, "The mother's role is primarily in the home and my wife happens to agree with me, as do many people, and so do my kids." (Watch the local ABC news video here.)

It's that kind of outworn thinking that makes life difficult for all working moms (and dads, too). Families should, of course, make decisions about parental roles, work, and family life that are right for them. But with over 70% of mothers of children under 18 in the labor force, public policies need to be based on reality, not antediluvian views. As the Baltimore Sun put it, as a basis for public policy, Head Start programs make "a lot more sense than trying to legislate a return to a golden age that wasn't necessarily so golden."

In the case of the Frederick County cuts, the commissioners' attitudes have real consequences. This isn't a "mommy wars" style debate between highly educated, affluent women. The kids that qualify for Head Start come from families living under the federal poverty line -- around $20,000 per year for a family of four.  Some of the Head Start mothers might be working more than one low wage job just to put food on the table while others are single parents. Some have kids with special needs and other disabilities. Many can't afford child care at all. In our current economic climate, the poor are only getting poorer. The Head Start mothers simply don't have the luxury of opting-out of paid employment. And without Head Start, their kids will be behind in school from the get go.

I am mad as hell. Heck, too. What about you? What should we do about it?

Photo by david drexler via Flickr.com.

 

Comments

[Anonymous]

Unbelievable! These two commissioners are apparently quite conservative in their views. I wonder if they actually speak for their constituents who voted them into office.

I also wonder if these commissioners are just trying to say, "Head Start is merely subsidized child care." That could lead to a healthy discussion of whether it's preferable, wise, or even feasible for a parent (of any gender) to stay home with a child during the early years.

Unfortunately, their out-dated language also obfuscates the real discussion about the extent to which "kids will be behind in school from the get go" without Head Start.

I recall a recent study purporting that students from low-income households arrive at preschool with a vocabulary one-third the size of their middle-class peers. It's possible that the results of this study demonstrate the continued need for programs like Head Start.

[Melinda Emerson]

Katherine---

I am mad too! While 83 percent of ALL low-income children are behind. And a staggering 91 percent of African American boys are below grade level in reading in third grade, this is not a racial issue. It's a national crisis:

To cut Head Start programs is criminal given how far behind the American education system is already. Earlier this week John Merrow, author of The Influence of Teachers wrote a story on this very subject for the Huffington Post The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading's Newest Efforts http://huff.to/gR1Yki

If we do not stop crippling our country's future on the backs of the nation's poorest families; protest and outrage will not just be something going on a few states and the Middle East. People will stand up and cry out nation-wide.

Just because their children do not need early learning support services doesn't mean it's not everyone's concern. Where will their children find people to hire?

Melinda Emerson
Mother of a 5 year old

[Katherine]

Wow, Stacy, thank you for writing about this important topic. I hadn't realized it was happening just in our backyard. Unfortunately, I think we can brace for more of this kind of politically oriented cutting as states try to balance their budgets. I wonder how many low-income children's education could be spared from the hatchet by eliminating just one defense contract instead?

[Jenny Vidas]

Wait...I'm confused...wasn't it the Republicans who said that women should get off their lazy butts and work and take some Personal Responsibility? Part of that 1994 Contract on America? Frederick Republicans may just be their own special breed of crazy.

[LaurenG]

And how about the WIC program being cut to shreds while farm subsidies continue? But here's one positive glimmer from my own backyard: the NYC City Council just past a law requiring 'truth in advertising' from so-called crisis pregnancy centers that mislead women into thinking they'll get counseling and medical services. Apparently MoCo passed such a bill in 2010.