ADVOCACY

Fiscal Year 2008 Funding Update (July 12, 2007)

The House Appropriations Committee met yesterday and approved a $75 million increase for the Head Start and Early Head Start programs in Fiscal Year 2008.   

The Senate Appropriations Committee met in June and approved the $200 million increase for the Head Start and Early Head Start programs in Fiscal Year 2008.  

Next Steps
The House will consider a $75 million increase and the Senate will consider a $200 million increase. 

Urgent Action Needed!
Please continue to contact your U.S. representatives and U.S. senators to express your appreciation for the increase and explain why additional funds are needed. Ask them to increase Head Start and Early Head Start funding by at least $750 million in Fiscal Year 2008. Be sure to give specific examples of results of past budget cuts and success stories.

Call the Capitol switchboard at 202-225-3121 to be connected with your member of Congress

Head Start Reauthorization Update

Next Steps
A Conference Committee will meet to resolve the difference in the House and Senate bills. We know that the Senate has already appointed all of the members of the Health Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to the Conference Committee. The House leadership is in the process of appointing their members.

Urgent Action Needed!
Contact the members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, especially if they are from your state and let them know you support the Support the Policy Council language in H.R. 1429. This language maintains the current shared governance structure of Head Start, except for the hiring and firing of the program director.

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee

NHSA Letters to the Hill

Urgent Action Needed!
If you have already sent a letter to Congress on the www.saveheadstart.org Web site please encourage others to sign onto the letter in support of Policy Council. As of July 9th, 3,730 letters have been sent to Congress. Help us meet our goal of 5,000 letters!

NHSA delivered letters with positive Policy Council fiscal examples to:

• Senator Bill Nelson, Florida
• Senator Gordon Smith, Oregon
• Senator Mike Enzi, Wyoming
• Senator Lamar Alexander, Tennessee
• Representative Donald Payne, 10th District, New Jersey
• Representative Danny Davis, 7th District, Illinois
• Representative Dale Kildee, 5th District, Michigan

NHSA delivered a copy of an organizational sign-on letter to all members of Congress similar to the one posted on the www.saveheadstart.org Web site.

Reminder-NHSA Board Position
We urge each state to support NHSA’s position on these issues. We need to present a unified front. There are some major differences in H.R. 1429 and S. 556 on six important policy issues. The Board voted to support the following:
 
Policy Council Issue:
Support the Policy Council language in H.R. 1429. This language maintains the current shared governance structure of Head Start, except for the hiring and firing of the program director.
 
Competition Issue:
Support the competition language in S. 556. Under S.556 only programs with “unresolved deficiencies” would have to recompete their grant. Programs would have an opportunity to correct a deficiency before facing recompetition; there is an 18-month grace period before the competition language kicks in. The bill’s definition of deficiency includes the term “material.” PRISM reports will be required to show strengths and weaknesses. Re-reviews would check for consistency in monitoring. Follow-up reviews for programs will occur for programs that fail to meet at least one Performance Standard.
 
Income Eligibility Issue:
Support the income eligibility language in S. 556. This bill would increase the income eligibility guideline from 100 percent to 130 percent of the federal poverty guideline and would maintain the 10 percent over income allowance.
 
Teacher Qualification Issue:
Support the teacher qualification language in H.R. 1429. H.R. 1429 would require at least 50 percent of all teachers nationwide in center-based programs have a baccalaureate or advanced degree in early childhood education or in a field related to early childhood education by September 30, 2013. H.R. 1429 would authorize that 25 percent of the quality set-aside funds be directed to teacher salaries. According to the report accompanying this bill, Head Start programs would not be penalized for failing to meet this requirement.
 
Early Learning Council:
Support the Early Learning Council language in H.R. 1429. H.R. 1429 has less expansive language than S. 556 does. Under H.R. 1429, the Early Learning Council would improve collaboration and coordination within the state. Five million dollars would be available out of training and technical assistance funds.
 
Program Enrollment Issue:
Support the program enrollment language in S. 556 except that programs would have to meet 98 percent enrollment, instead of the 100 percent enrollment requirement in S. 556. If a program’s enrollment is less than 98 percent, the NHSA Board supports giving programs training and technical assistance to meet the 98 percent enrollment requirement. If programs still fail to meet that requirement, a portion of a program’s grant can be recaptured. Programs must maintain a waiting list.
 
Religious Discrimination Issue
The NHSA Board also approved a motion on the religious discrimination issue. The NHSA Board agreed that NHSA would oppose any bill that contains language permitting Head Start programs to discriminate in their hiring practices based on an individual’s religious preference.

Dollar per Child

Reminder: Our fiscal year ended June 30. We look forward to receiving the $55,600 pledged at our annual conference and additional dollars that you are still raising for the critical legislative work that we do.

Continue to mail your checks to: NHSA Dollar per Child Campaign, P.O Box 890080, Charlotte, NC 28289-0080. Please make sure to note which program, state, or region your donation is representing. Thanks for all of your support.