Michael1942's Blog

In the past 5 plus years the Springfield Urban League, as administrator of the Head Start program, has systematically created an air of Emotional and Moral Devastation. This Urban League branch has had several CEOs who have done a less than stellar job of administering and providing the needs of the community it serves, yet the current head had fallen to a new low. The management has allowed the use of buildings that are rife with lead and mold hazards. The class schedules have been disrupted creating extreme hardship on the working poor who depend on Head Start to look after their children while they work at some of the lowest paying jobs. These jobs augment the meager assistance they receive from other agencies. Consider the emotional and financial hardships placed on the families when they have to find another source for the daily meals and training their children were receiving from Head Start. Many of these parents were Head Start recipients and understand the value of that program; they now face a slippery slope from which they and their children may not be able to recover. It appears that the administrators have no concern beyond their own needs but still accept funding for programs designed to aid their area of service and the neighborhood they reside in. This gross disregard for the welfare of their client base is as vicious as the 1908 riots and its subsequent ruination of a neighborhood. The last few years have seen the election of a Union to protect the workers and have resulted in more oppression, more firings and less service to the community. The annual Gala put on by the League will go on this fall as if nothing is wrong while the lack of service continues to spiral down. This is like the proverbial concept of “Nero Fiddling while Rome Burns.” It is time that the larger Urban League and Head Start authorities took a closer look at a program that has sunk to an unprecedented low in service and reliability