More than 57,000 children will be denied access to the Head Start program this fall thanks to sequestration budget cuts, and that news has Rep. Kathy Castor, a Democrat from Florida, fired up.
"This is very serious," she said on PoliticsNation Wednesday, explaining why she's disgusted with her colleagues for failing to stop the cuts that are causing these children to lose the program. "The Republicans insistence on the sequester cuts, their refusal to negotiate on the budget, is having a real world impact on families here in Florida--but all across the country, The real world impact in neighborhoods across America, all you have to do is look into the Head Start programs."
Although more than 1,200 children in her home state are being cut from the program, the impact will be felt nationwide. In California, 5,611 children will lose Head Start, 4,410 have been cut in Texas, and another 3,847 spots have been eliminated In New York, according to new federal data released this week.
"Head Start works," she said. "The consensus data out there says that if you concentrate at the early ages in preschool and give them the tools they need, the nutrition, the health, require parents to be involved, then they have a greater chance to succeed in life."
"So the Republicans putting up these road blocks, they're in essence saying, 'we don't believe in you, and we don't believe you should have that opportunity,'" she added.
Watch the full interview below.