Senate bill retains Head Start as federal program

11/11/03 -- The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee approved a bill to reauthorize Head Start Oct. 29 that would retain federal control over the program.

The Head Start bill approved by the House in July would allow up to eight states to take control over the program and combine Head Start and state funding for early childhood programs.

With Congress set to adjourn before Thanksgiving, however, it is unlikely that Head Start legislation will be approved this session, says Reggie Felton, NSBA's federal relations director.

Head Start serves nearly a million children at 19,000 centers at a cost of $6.6 billion. It addresses children's health and social services needs, as well as preparing them for academic learning.

The Senate bill would increase funding to $7.2 billion and expand the number of children eligible for Head Start.

It also would allow faith-based organizations and for-profit organizations to become Head Start providers.

HELP Committee Chair Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) says, the bill "reaffirms the Head Start program's primary purpose: helping to ensure that low-income children have an opportunity to enter school ready to learn with their peers."

The Senate bill includes specific outcomes standards for participants. These standards, for example, would require children to know the alphabet and numbers and be able to measure, length, weight, and time.

Felton says these standards potentially could be viewed as similar to the adequate yearly progress (AYP) requirements in the No Child Left Behind Act. So far, however, the bill does not call for the outcomes standards to be tied to reductions in funding or other sanctions.

Before the standards and testing provisions take effect, the bill requires a National Academy of Sciences panel to determine their scientific validity.

NSBA supports provisions in the Senate bill that would call for Head Start to be aligned with K-12 education. The bill would require state education agencies and local school districts to work with Head Start when drawing up school readiness standards and instructional programs.

In a letter to members of the HELP committee, NSBA recommends that local school districts have the option to:

• develop such standards for the Head Start programs that are operating within their community; or

• approve such standards developed by the Head Start agency.

NSBA's letter also says adequate funding is of utmost importance. NSBA opposes any proposed changes that would further exacerbate existing funding shortfalls, and expresses concerns about broadening the types of organizations that could provide Head Start services without increasing the amount of funding.

Both the House and Senate bills would require Head Start teachers to have at least an associate's degree by 2009.

The Senate bill would require 50 percent of Head Start teachers to have a bachelor's degree by 2010. The House bill would set a deadline of 2008 for this requirement.

In response to recent news reports about some Head Start directors' high salaries, the Senate bill says directors of nonprofit agencies receiving federal Head Start funding cannot earn more than $171,900 a year, the salary of Tommy G. Thompson, secretary of health and human services. That department oversees the Head Start program.

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Reproduced with permission from the 2003 issue of School Board News. Copyright © 2003, National School Boards Association. Opinions expressed in this newspaper do not necessarily reflect positions of NSBA. This article may be printed out and photocopied for individual or educational use, provided this copyright notice appears on each copy. This article may not be otherwise transmitted or reproduced in print or electronic form without the consent of the Publisher. For more information, call (703) 838-6789.