state + local

Other programs hurt

Sequestration will also hit Head Start and adult education, programs that supplement the state’s K-12 education system.

The White House has estimated that cuts to Head Start, which funds early childhood education for low-income families, will cut off access for 700 children across Minnesota.

State data show that about 40 percent of American Indian students are unprepared for kindergarten. Karen Diver, chairwoman of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, said at least 25 Head Start slots could be cut on her reservation, straining a program already subsidized by the tribal government.

The White House has said that adult education grants won’t be affected until July, but Erma Vizenor, chairwoman of the White Earth Band of Chippewa, expects longer class waiting lists in the fall: The reservation typically has more students graduate from adult education programs each spring than from its traditional high schools, she said. White Earth leaders also are mulling a delayed opening for the fall Head Start program.

Said Vizenor: “It’s devastating.”

 

Corey Mitchell • 1-202-383-6121