No news is definitely not good news for the state of Utah. Along with all the rhetoric about a balanced budget and political party battles, facts about the proposed federal spending cuts for critically needed education and children's programs are being ignored.

The impact of these reductions would mean that 979 children in Utah will be denied the opportunity to attend Head Start, a widely acclaimed program that gives these at-risk children success skills just before they enter school.Proposed cuts would eliminate funding for safe and drug-free schools. This benefits students in all 40 school districts by preventing crime, violence and drugs. The proposed cuts would mean all 470,000 students in Utah schools stand to lose.

"Title I" is a federal program that would provide basic and advanced skills for 6,100 students in Utah who would be dangerously close to school failure without this extra help in our classrooms. Yet Title I is on the Republican hit list.

Most of Utah's citizens didn't envision these programs as part of the great plan for balancing the budget. Let's not balance the budget on the backs of Utah's children.

Phyllis Sorensen

View Comments

American Fork

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.