Has HHS Buried Reports on ‘Head Start’?
According to sources within HHS cited by Heritages’ Dan Lips, a congressionally mandated report on the persistence of academic effects from the federal Head Start program was completed in draft form in 2008, but, nearly two years later, has not seen the light of day. A further follow-up report, to have been released in 2009 and covering persistence of effects through the 3rd grade, has also failed to materialized. Lips’ sources say the draft they saw in ‘08 showed no lasting effects.
This timeline meshes with what I was told in a July, 2008 e-mail exchange with a researcher familiar with the studies. The 1st grade report was indeed expected to be completed that summer — one and a half years ago. So where is it?
Could it be, as Lips’ sources seem to imply, that its results were not flattering to the very expensive federal preschool program and that this is not something HHS officials want the public to know? There’s one way to find out: HHS, release the studies.
This is all rather important, what with the Obama administration seeking to lavish many additional billions on large-scale government pre-K, despite the paucity of results we’ve seen from such programs to date.
Wednesday Links
- How Washington’s plans may result in even higher executive pay.
“In 1993, Congress intervened in corporate compensation and messed things up. Now it’s the White House’s turn.”
- The case for allowing insider trading: “Want to keep companies honest, make the markets work more efficiently and encourage investors to diversify? Let insiders buy and sell.”
- Cato v. Heritage on the Patriot Act, Round III: “In hindsight, did Congress and the president react too hastily in 2001 by passing the Patriot Act just weeks after the 9/11 attacks?”
- Instead of fixing the Patriot Act, President Obama is protecting it.
- Twenty years later: Why the Berlin Wall fell.
- Podcast: “Financial Privacy and Freedom” featuring Prince Michael of Liechtenstein.
Weekend Links
- Cato v. Heritage on the Patriot Act, Round II. Today’s topic: “Where are the demonstrated examples of abuses of liberties because of the Patriot Act? Are there any provisions of the law that civil libertarians would find acceptable?”
- Comparing the Great Depression to the current recession: Did we not learn anything?
- Re-examining the U.S. alliance with Japan: “The current relationship remains trapped in a world that no longer exists.”
- The human cost of delayed economic reform in India: “With earlier reform, 14.5 million more children would have survived, 261 million more Indians would have become literate, and 109 million more people would have risen above the poverty line.”
- Podcast: What we should have learned from our experience in Somalia. Background reading: Somalia, Redux: A More Hands-Off Approach
Thursday Links
- A few things to consider before comparing Vietnam to Afghanistan.
- When it comes to energy policy, most conservatives toss free-market ideas aside.
- When your only choice is to “be a good victim”: Man shoots two people to death in San Francisco while police stand by.
Who’s Blogging about Cato
Here’s your weekly round up of bloggers who are writing about Cato research, analysis and commentary:
- United Liberty editor Jason Pye discusses Cato’s new site, DownsizingGovernment.org.
- Scott Hinrichs quotes Cato senior fellow Tom Palmer in a post on the relationship between governments and the people.
- Below the Beltway’s Doug Mataconis and Spencer Ackerman of the Washington Independent post Cato’s new video on the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan.
- At the Real Clear World Compass Blog, Greg Scoblete quotes Justin Logan on Afghanistan.
- Harry Waisbren of Get Fisa Right and Salon’s Glenn Greenwald discuss Julian Sanchez’s video on Fox’s coverage of the Patriot Act.
- Heritage’s Gerrit Lansing interviews David Goldhill during a Cato Hill Briefing, “How American Health Care Killed My Father.“
Click here to let us know if you’re blogging about Cato.
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