IN DEBT WIPED OUT. RESEARCHERS AT RUTGERS UNIVERSITY WANT THE GOVERNMENT TO MAKE A TENDER BILLION DOLLAR INVESTMENT INTO HEAD START AND EARLY HEAD START PROGRAMS. AND THEY’RE CITING DATA FROM HERE IN NEBRASKA. KETV NEWSWATCH 7 CARL LARSON TAKES A CLOSER LOOK AT WHY THOSE NUMBERS MATTER. LIVING IN POVERTY ARE THE FOCUS IN A STUDY RELEASED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR EARLY EDUCATION RESEARCH. THE STUDY’S AUTHORS ARE ASKING FOR MONEY TO IMPROVE ENROLLMENT AMONG IMPOVERISHED CHILDREN AND ADDRESS RACIAL DISPARITIES IN ENROLLMENT. WE’VE SEEN THE EFFECTS OF POVERTY AND WE’VE SEEN THE EFFECTS OF HIGHER QUALITY EDUCATION AND PROGRAMS. AND SO HEAD START REALLY DOES HAVE A ROLE AND, YOU KNOW, IMPROVING LIVES OF CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES IN NEBRASKA, 37% OF CHILDREN IN POVERTY ARE ENROLLED IN HEAD START AND 19% ARE ENROLLED IN EARLY HEAD START, WHICH IS UP FROM 13% FROM 2018 2019. JAMEELAH JONES WITH EDUCARE, OMAHA, INC, SAYS THOSE NUMBERS ARE A FINE START, BUT THERE NEEDS TO BE MORE DIVERSITY ACROSS THE BOARD. EXPOSING CHILD LEARNING AND FAMILIES TO OTHER CULTURES, BACKGROUNDS, EXPERIENCES AND AGES SIX WEEKS UP UNTIL THE AGE THREE FOUR REALLY HAS STARTING FIVE FOUR HEAD START. THAT IS VERY IMPORTED FROM THE 1819 YEAR. NEBRASKA SAW 607 FEWER CHILDREN IN POVERTY, ENROLLED IN HEAD START PROGRAM AND 90 FEWER IN EARLY HEAD START PROGRAMS COMPARED TO THE 2020, 2021 YEAR. JONES SAYS ENROLLMENT AMONG IMPOVERISHED CHILDREN MUST CHANGE. TO BETTER OUR STATE IN THE FUTURE, WHAT WE GIVE THEM NOW, WE RATE IN THE FUTURE WITH OUR COMMUNITIES. BOTH KRAUSS AND JONES CITE A TEACHER SHORTAGE AND THE INABILITY TO RETAIN QUALITY EDUCATORS AS A PROBLEM ACROSS THE COUNTRY RIGHT NOW. THAT’S WHY KRAUSS AND HER COLLEAGUES ARE ASKING FOR MORE FUNDING TO ATTRACT AND RETAIN A QUALIFIED WORKFORCE. THEY NEED TO BE PAID MORE. AND SO FOR THAT, YOU NEED MONEY. MY NEBRASKA HAS HIGHER ENROLLMENT NOW THAN IT DID BEFORE THE PANDEMIC. THAT’S ALSO CONTRIBUTED TO FEWER CHILDREN BEING IN POVERTY OVERALL. FREEDMAN AND KRAUSS WOULD LIKE TO