BILLION BROKEN PROMISES:  EXPERTS WARN "CRIPPLING CRISIS" LOOMS FOR HEAD START DUE TO CUT IN APPROPRIATIONS, HUNDREDS OF NEW UNFUNDED REQUIREMENTS  

White House, Congress Criticized for Head Start Cut in Face of $20 Billion in Appropriations Earmarks; $1 Billion Shortfall in Funding Seen Since 2002, $360 Million "Catch Up" Sought in Each of Next Five Years.

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WASHINGTON, D.C.///January 24, 2008///The White House and Congress put Head Start -- the nation's first and most successful comprehensive early-childhood education program -- on a path to crisis in December 2007 after first reauthorizing the program with hundreds of costly new requirements and then failing to appropriate the funds needed to pay for current program operations, much less the expensive new rules and regulations.  Funding for Head Start was cut in the same appropriations bill that included more than 1,300 controversial earmarks for unrelated programs and projects totaling an estimated $20 billion.

Many of the new Head Start requirements -- including easing the eligibility guidelines for Head Start children from 100 to 130 percent of the federal poverty line, increased credentials for teachers and other staff, and priority enrollment for homeless children -- were supported by National Head Start Association and local Head Start officials on the assumption that the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to pay for them would be appropriated.  Other requirements were included in the reauthorization bill as well, including mandatory enrollment of special needs children, extensive new training and related procedures, and a huge jump in new recordkeeping and reporting requirements (including HIPAA-like privacy rules).  

The White House and Congress reauthorized Head Start (with the addition of the numerous new requirements) yet then proceeded in late December to enact appropriations containing a net $10.6 million cut in Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 funds for Head Start.  While some friends of Head Start in Congress fought for the necessary extra funding for the program, the White House prevailed in holding the line on the appropriations package that included the cut.

The new cut is only the latest example of the chronic shortchanging of the Head Start program, according to NHSA. The hundreds of new requirements and the reduction in FY 2008 spending compounds the woes created by five years of failing to provide the funds needed for Head Start to keep pace with inflation.  When NHSA officials speak of a "billion broken promises," they are referring to the failure of Washington to deliver the promised full federal funding for Head Start.  

Hundreds of Head Start programs across the United States had no choice in 2006 and 2007 but to scale back days and hours of operations, bus service, support staff, and other critical services and manpower. With cash-strapped Head Start programs already having slashed operations to the bone (and beyond in some cases), the FY 2008 funding cut means that Head Start programs will have experienced a real decline in federal support of 11 percent since FY 2002 (inflation-adjusted). The result:  A Head Start program that received $1 in FY 2002 is only receiving 89 cents in FY 2008.  If federal support for Head Start had kept pace with inflation over this period, it would have risen from $6.54 billion in FY 2002 to $7.77 billion in FY 2008 and $7.95 billion in FY 2009 - putting the actual shortfall well over the "billion broken promises" level.  (Note:  This huge and growing gap does not take into account the hundreds of millions of additional dollars not provided to implement the extensive new rules and regulations included in the reauthorization bill.)
 
In order to regain the lost ground, Head Start officials said they will press for additional "catch up" appropriations of $360 million per year for FY 2009-2013.  According to NHSA, those additional funds would help to pay for the new rules enacted in 2007 and erase the more than $1 billion shortfall.

National Head Start Association Board Chairman Ron Herndon, also director of the Albina Head Start program (Portland, OR) said: "The reality is that this White House  and Congress have made and broken a billion promises when it comes to full funding for Head Start, which has been proven to work. Things were bad enough heading into FY 2008 when we were losing ground relative to inflation, but now we are stuck between a rock and a hard place.  How can Head Start programs cope with the double whammy of a real cut in appropriations at the same time as hundreds of new unfunded requirements? We intend to make sure that Americans know that this outrage happened and what now has to be done to fix it."

California Head Start Association President Lucia Palacios, also director of the Orange County Head Start program (Santa Ana, CA) said:  "Head Start programs led the way in pushing for many of the changes and improvements - including higher teacher credentials and raising eligibility to 130 percent of the federal poverty line - but we did so on the reasonable assumption that Congress would pay for the changes it made in reauthorizing the program.  Now, we have been put in a 10-foot hole and given a ladder that is only six-feet tall to get out of it.  We hope that when the president's budget is put out next month, Congress will hold him accountable for the appropriating the necessary funds to support the quality programming that Head Start provides to children and families." 

Region 3 Head Start Association President Mary Gunning, also director of the St. Jerome's Head Start (Baltimore, MD), said:   "I am particularly concerned about the many unfunded mandates that are in this bill, particularly as they relate to staff qualifications and training. I certainly am a proponent of having a well trained staff, and 75 percent of my lead teachers and Family Service Coordinators have bachelors' degrees. However, this bill requires all Head Start teacher assistants to have a CDA and 50 percent of teachers to have a BA or advanced degree by September 30, 2013. There is neither money allocated to pay for these credentials and degrees nor is their funding to cover the accompanying salary increases. The other point to consider is that many Head Start staff -- including me -- must work a second job due to the low salaries they command. This will make it very difficult for staff to juggle the many demands of family, two jobs and attending college or otherwise working on their degrees."
 
The literally hundreds of unfunded new rule changes in the 2007 Head Start reauthorization process include the following costly items:

1. Increased credentialing requirements for teachers, family service workers and other staff.

2. New employee standards and in-service training.

3. Coordination with state collaboration offices and boards.

4. Priority enrollment for homeless children.

5. Mandatory enrollment of children with disabilities.

6. Imposition of new HIPAA-like privacy requirements.

7. Re-competition requirements and extensive year-one monitoring for new programs.

8. Extensive new record-keeping and reporting requirements.

ABOUT NHSA

The National Head Start Association (http://www.nhsa.org) is a private not-for-profit membership organization dedicated exclusively to meeting the needs of Head Start children and their families. It represents more than 1 million children, 200,000 staff and 2,600 Head Start programs in the United States. The Association provides support for the entire Head Start community by advocating for policies that strengthen services to Head Start children and their families; by providing extensive training and professional development to Head Start staff; and by developing and disseminating research, information, and resources that enrich Head Start program delivery.
   
CONTACT:   Ailis Aaron Wolf, (703) 276-3265 or aaaron@hastingsgroup.com.

EDITOR'S NOTE:  A streaming audio replay of a related NHSA news event will be available as of 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT on January 24, 2008 at mms://www.hastingsgroupmedia.com/NHSA/012408NHSAbillionbrokenpromises.wma.