Sacramento Head Start Alumni Association

President's Head Start Proposal - Move to Dept of Ed Announced

Feb 03, 2003

Head Start Changeover Proposed

By Valerie Strauss and Amy Goldstein
Washington Post

The White House is proposing a historic shift in the Head Start
preschool program for poor youngsters that calls for the federal government to
offer states broad new control over decision-making and replaces the
program's traditional mission with an emphasis on literacy, officials
said yesterday.

In the fiscal 2004 budget that will be unveiled Monday, President Bush
will give governors the option of taking charge of key aspects of the
program that have been managed by the federal government. These include
setting standards for teacher qualifications and instruction of the
905,000
children in Head Start, as well as determining which programs can
receive Head Start money.

In a briefing, the officials, who asked not to be identified, said the
changes will allow states to increase all-day Head Start classes,
better coordinate state preschool programs with Head Start and better mesh
preschool instruction with K-12 curriculum, ensuring that students are
better prepared to enter elementary school. The key to the changeover
would be encouraging Head Start programs that focus on literacy, they
said.

The officials portrayed the new proposal as a natural sequel to Bush's
2001 education initiative, the "No Child Left Behind" measure that sets
up systems for testing and accountability in U.S. public schools. The
changes must be approved by Congress.

"If we are going to hold governors accountable for all children reading
on grade level by third grade, there needs to be more state involvemen
with these kids who are most at risk," an official said. Head Start has
long been seen as the nation's leading preschool program for the poor.
It is designed to help children and their families prepare for
school academically, but also sends them to the dentist, doctor or
mental health professional, or teaches them how to hold a fork or use a
toilet.

Critics said the changes proposed for the 38-year-old program would be
costly and could undermine the provision of those health and social
services. They also said that in these tight economic times, states may be
tempted to use the money for other things.

"Head Start is not just an early education program; it is a family
support program," said Samuel J. Meisels, president of the Erikson
Institute, a nonprofit organization that trains child development
professionals. "And we will lose the family support.

"Early education alone does not account for all the gains the children
have to make in order to be successful in school," he added.

Some state government officials said they could not comment on the
proposed changes to Head Start because they had not been informed of the by
the White House.

Kerry Mazzoni, California's secretary for education, said that the idea
sounded "interesting," adding that she supported coordinating state
pre-kindergarten programs with Head Start.

"Without looking at the details, alignment and coordination within the
states of those programs is a positive thing," she said.

But she also said that it was important that new regulations be "not
onerous" and that the federal government allows states the flexibility to
align the programs the way they see fit. She also said it is important
that Head Start be adequately funded. Asked if states would be tempted
to use the money to cover shortfalls in other areas, she said
preschool education is
becoming a growing priority among states.

The administration officials did not say how much money would be
budgeted for Head Start for the next fiscal year. The federal government
spends more than $6 billion on about 1,400 programs around the country. Of
those, about 400 provide full-day services.

In recent years, questions have arisen about whether Head Start
programs hire enough qualified teachers and whether the benefits for children
last throughout their school years.

Steve Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education
Research, said the notion of fadeout of Head Start benefits is a myth,
and that studies that measure school progress find that Head Start has a
lasting impact on whether children will repeat grades and graduate
from high school. But he and others acknowledge that Head Start needs to
focus on hiring better-qualified teachers.

Bush's budget will propose that the program be moved to the Department
of Education from the Department of Health and Human Services, which
has overseen it since Head Start began in 1965.

The administration officials said governors would be given the option
of controlling their own Head Start programs or continuing to allow the
federal government to manage them. The federal government would require
state officials to serve all children eligible for Head Start, they
said, but
would let them decide how to do that. Parents would have input in the
decision.

"The focus is on the kid, not the organization," an official said. They
added that enrollment in some Head Start programs is chronically
lacking, and that states might be better able to tailor programs and help
fill those underused spots.

Sarah Green, president of the National Head Start Association, a
nonprofit organization that supports Head Start, called Bush's proposal a
potential "disaster." She said states facing huge deficits are already
cutting pre-kindergarten programs.

"They will not serve the neediest of the needy," she said. "We think
this is an unwise move, and we plead with them and the Congress to use
good judgment and maintain Head Start intact."

Barnett said, "It is important and valuable that the administration
emphasizes the educational role of Head Start," but he said he does not
see any benefit in moving to the Education Department without giving the
programs more resources.

"The constraint on providing a good education was not that the folks
at[HHS] didn't know how to do that," he said. "It was that they didn't
have enough money to hire teachers with higher degrees."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8588-2003Jan31.html