<DIV>Debbie,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>It truly is upsetting that so many programs are to be slashed. This article states three times that the reason Governor Butch Otter is cutting the programs is because of information and recommendations made to him by legislative auditors. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The head agency in Idaho responsible for auditing government programs and making recommendations is the Office of Performance Evaluations (OPE). <BR></DIV> <DIV>Perhaps if enough concerned Idahoans emailed the office and asked the OPE Director for a detailed explanation or report of why such recommendations were made you could get an answer as to why they are slashing Head Start and other quality programs you are so concerned with. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Director Rakesh Mohan</DIV> <DIV>rmohan@ope.idaho.gov </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Best,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Donovan</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV> <DIV><BR><B><I>Debbie Gray <graylex@yahoo.com></I></B> wrote:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">Education subtractionPrograms for needy children face<BR>funding cuts<BR>By PHIL DAVIDSON,<BR>Idaho Falls Post Register (Idaho)<BR>May 16, 2007<BR>Copyright2007The Post Register All Rights Reserved<BR><BR>Head Start will lose $1.5 million because of federal<BR>cuts, while Parents as Teachers faces extinction<BR>because of an interpretation by Otter's<BR>administration.<BR><BR>The letter Sandra Jacobson got last week wasn't a pink<BR>slip. But it might as well have been.<BR><BR>Jacobson, who runs the Parents as Teachers program for<BR>the Clark County School District, was one of 60 parent<BR>educators to get a contract-termination notice from<BR>the state.<BR><BR>The letters came at the behest of Gov. C.L. ""Butch""<BR>Otter, who, after conferring with legislative<BR>auditors,
determined that the federal dollars funding<BR>the Parents as Teachers program were being used<BR>inappropriately.<BR><BR>Gov. Dirk Kempthorne launched the program in 1999. Its<BR>goal is to teach parents how to keep their children<BR>healthy and prepared for school.<BR><BR>Advocates of Parents as Teachers point to scholastic<BR>success of participating children as evidence of its<BR>success.<BR><BR>But it's one of several state programs that could<BR>suffer because of a mix of federal budget cuts and the<BR>views of the Otter administration.<BR><BR>The federal government has proposed cutting the<BR>federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families<BR>funding the state funnels into Idaho's Head Start, a<BR>nationwide program for preschool children from<BR>low-income families. (Parents as Teachers is funded<BR>through the same pool of money.)<BR><BR>The $1.5 million cut proposed for Idaho would leave at<BR>least $22 million for the Head Start program here, but<BR>the Otter
administration, backed by legislative<BR>auditors, says the roughly $1.5 million in TANF<BR>dollars earmarked for Head Start and similar programs<BR>shouldn't have gone there in the first place.<BR><BR>The administration believes the Parents as Teachers<BR>program and Head Start don't meet the criteria<BR>required by the federal government, which calls for<BR>TANF funding to provide assistance to needy families<BR>as a means to promote job preparation, reduce<BR>out-of-wedlock pregnancies and encourage two-parent<BR>families.<BR><BR>So they're planning on closing the Executive Office<BR>for Families and Children, which oversees the Parents<BR>as Teachers program, on June 15.<BR><BR>As a result, state officials estimate 25 programs<BR>statewide will be abandoned.<BR><BR>Several other programs that Kempthorne initiated -<BR>including suicide prevention and teen pregnancy<BR>awareness - will also be affected, but the plan is to<BR>merge them into the Department of Health and
Welfare.<BR><BR>""We're just trying to respond to what's been<BR>identified as an unauthorized use of funds,"" said Jon<BR>Hanian, Otter's spokesman.<BR><BR>Janet Goodliffe, the program's supervisor for the<BR>Madison School District, said she's set to lose<BR>$26,000 - a fifth of her budget. Because the Madison<BR>program is large - it serves about 400 children -<BR>Goodliffe said she'll be able to keep the project<BR>running through other funding sources.<BR><BR>Still, she finds the abrupt notification regarding the<BR>contract terminations to be troubling.<BR><BR>""Why mid-contract?"" she said. ""Why can't we at<BR>least have a chance to voice our concerns?""<BR><BR>Jacobson, who teaches 21 families a month in Clark<BR>County's school district, agrees.<BR><BR>""This totally cuts off our programs,"" she said.<BR>""It's an upsetting thing.""<BR><BR>Did you know?<BR><BR>Idaho will receive $35.6 million this year through the<BR>federal Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families<BR>program. That will drop to $32.1 million by fiscal<BR>year 2009, according to the Idaho Department of Health<BR>and Welfare.<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>____________________________________________________________________________________<BR>The fish are biting. <BR>Get more visitors on your site using Yahoo! Search Marketing.<BR>http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/arp/sponsoredsearch_v2.php<BR><BR>=======================================================<BR>List services made available by First Step Internet, <BR>serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <BR>http://www.fsr.net <BR>mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<BR>=======================================================<BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><p> 
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