House Votes to Give Some States Control Over Head Start

The House early this morning narrowly approved a measure that would give some states control over the popular Head Start preschool program, despite the fervent objections of teachers and parents.

The measure, which passed 217 to 216 without the support of a single Democrat, is a scaled-back version of a proposal President Bush made in his State of the Union address. The president’s plan would shift authority over Head Start from the federal government to the states. The House version would give no more than eight states the opportunity to administer Head Start centers for the next five years, receiving federal funds that currently go directly to local agencies.

The vote came down to the wire, with 12 Republicans joining all Democrats in opposing it. Republican leaders conceded that it was difficult to muster adequate support for the measure among their caucus in the face of passionate opposition from supporters of Head Start -- parents, teachers and graduates -- in many districts.

“They are a very potent political force,” Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), chairman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, said before the vote.

The Senate has yet to craft its own bill on Head Start, which serves nearly 1 million children each year from low-income families.

The House bill’s Republican sponsors argued that their plan would give the states with the best early-education programs flexibility to coordinate their existing, state-funded preschool classes with the federally funded Head Start centers, thus better preparing low-income children for school.

The measure also would strengthen academic standards at all Head Start centers, a provision that was not controversial.

“Head Start students are learning, but they’re not learning enough,” said Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio).

Rep. Michael N. Castle (R-Del.), chief sponsor of the measure, argued that Head Start “is not doing what it needs to do in education, and we need to challenge it.”

But Democrats countered that the GOP sponsors had no evidence that their plan would work. They charged that the GOP plan would be the beginning of a wrongheaded dismantlement of a successful program that has served 20 million children over 38 years. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” said Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (D-Fla.).

“Head Start works,” said Rep. George Miller of Martinez, the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. “We should not be experimenting with this program.”

Democrats warned that under the Republican plan, states could reduce the number of children served by Head Start or limit the program’s services, which they describe as essential to ensuring that poor children are prepared for school. In addition to early learning classes, Head Start offers meals, medical and dental exams and mental health screening. The program enhances children’s self-esteem and encourages the involvement of parents and community members, supporters say.

All Republican members of the California delegation voted for the measure, and all Democrats voted against it.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) said that the Republicans who want to change the program do not understand that children from disadvantaged backgrounds need more than academic training to be prepared for school.

“Head Start eliminates the barriers and obstacles that get in the way of poor children being ready for school,” Waters said.

Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Anaheim), who attended a Head Start program as a child, defended Head Start’s effectiveness for the children it serves.

“I know about these kids because I am one of those kids,” Sanchez said. “It hurts to hear about how we’re not successful or how we are losers. But we are very successful.”

But Republicans countered that they were trying to improve Head Start so that children from low-income families can start elementary school as prepared to succeed as their peers who are not economically disadvantaged.

“This is the biggest improvement we can make for the future of those children,” said Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.).

The bill’s sponsors said they did not know which states would opt to run their Head Start programs, but one state that appears interested is Georgia. To qualify, states much be spending at least half as much on preschool programs as the federal government does on Head Start -- and agree to kick in additional funding equivalent to 5% of their federal Head Start allotment.

The GOP’s proposal would increase funding next year for Head Start to $6.9 billion, $203 million more than this year. It also includes provisions designed to prevent the eight states that would administer their programs from reducing state funding for preschool.

But Democrats complained that Head Start remained miserably underfunded, serving only a fraction of the children eligible for it. They say that about 40% of the 4-year-olds who are eligible, based on family income levels, have no access to Head Start and that 97% of children who qualify for early Head Start, for children 3 and younger, cannot find classes.

Democrats also opposed a provision allowing faith-based organizations that run Head Start centers to use religion as a basis for hiring decisions, but an amendment to strike the provision failed 231 to 198.

Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Texas) said the provision “makes a mockery of the free-exercise clause in the 1st Amendment of our Constitution.”

“No one should have to pass someone else’s religious test” to obtain a federally funded job as a Head Start teacher, he added.

Republicans argued that the provision would give faith-based organizations the right to hire based on religion. They also said many churches, synagogues and religious groups have been deterred from opening Head Start centers because they had been forbidden from hiring based on faith.

“Think how many more children would be served if the restriction was removed,” Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said during the debate.