In considering child development opportunities in NEO, the NYTimes offered this insight:

Life Way After Head Start - By DAVID L. KIRP - Published: November 21, 2004

The power of education to level the playing field has long been an American article of faith. Education is the ''balance wheel of the social machinery,'' argued Horace Mann, the first great advocate of public schooling. ''It prevents being poor.'' But that belief has been undermined by research findings -- seized on ever since by skeptics -- that federal programs like Head Start, designed to benefit poor children, actually have little long-term impact.

To read the entire article, you can go to the on-line archives of The New York Times archives (read entire article here) or go to your local library.