Media Contact: Allie Wright, [email protected], (202) 794-1823

Washington, DC. (March 20, 2017) – Save the Children Action Network (SCAN) today placed a $150,000 television and digital ad buy that urges Congress to protect funding for Head Start.

The ads began airing this morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and Fox’s “Fox and Friends” and will run for at least one week. The digital ads target key Republicans on the House Appropriations and Budget Committees.

President Trump’s budget slashes funding for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the agency that supports high-quality early learning programs like Head Start, by 18 percent. This could lead to fewer low-income children having access to Head Start and other early learning programs.

“Even before any budget cuts, Head Start with its current funding can only serve 40 percent of eligible kids. Early Head Start fares even worse, with an astonishing 96 percent of eligible children missing out on the program,” said Mark Shriver, President of SCAN. “With so many kids already missing out on this effective program, cuts to Head Start are the wrong way to go. I urge members of Congress to protect funding for high-quality early education.”

There is overwhelming bipartisan support for Head Start across the country. According to a new poll commissioned by SCAN last week, nearly 86 percent of respondents, including 79 percent of self-identified Trump voters, support Head Start.

Among Republicans generally, 75 percent want to increase or maintain funding for to the program. Further, 68 percent of all voters, including 50 percent of Trump voters, said they would be less likely to vote for their member of Congress if they voted to eliminate Head Start.

The 30-second digital ads will run for at least two weeks in the districts of the following House members:

• Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn.
• Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla.
• Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash.
• Rep. Martha Roby, R-Ala.
• Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif.
• Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark.
• Rep. David Young, R-Iowa

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Save the Children Action Network is the political voice for kids. We believe that every child deserves the best start in life. That’s why we’re building bipartisan will and voter support to make sure every child in the U.S. has access to high-quality early learning and that no mother or child around the globe dies from a preventable disease or illness. By investing in kids and holding leaders accountable, we are helping kids from birth to age five survive and thrive. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.