NEW DATA: $3.4 BILLION HEAD START “FUNDING GAP” SEEN AS CONGRESS MOVES TO RAISE TEACHER DEGREE REQUIREMENTS WITHOUT PAYING FOR THE IMPROVEMENT IN QUALITY
Agreement on Need for Higher Degree Requirement is Universal, But Necessary Federal Funding Not in Place; NHSA Warns of Extensive Cuts and Teacher Layoffs as “Entirely Counterproductive” Result.
WASHINGTON, D.C.///July 14, 2005///A U.S. Senate bill (S. 1107) expected to be voted on in the coming weeks would force Head Start programs to add or “upgrade” more than 33,000 teachers to meet requirements for more BA and AA degrees, even though no arrangements have been made by Congress to cover the resulting “funding gap” that would climb to $3.4 billion over six years, according to new data released today by the nonprofit Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP).
The National Head Start Association (NHSA) warned that the new unfunded requirements for Head Start programs would worsen already mounting service cuts that are resulting from other unfunded federal requirements (including implementing expensive 2004 transportation safety rules and the considerable costs associated with participating in the controversial NRS testing system). If the teacher requirements are enacted without the funding to pay for them, NHSA leadership expects to see further service cuts, including in the areas of program staff (including extensive teacher layoffs), hours of operation (reducing many currently full-day programs to half days) and slashing transportation services as examples of ways to cover the $3.4 billion funding gap.
CLASP Senior Policy Analyst Danielle Ewen said: “It seems clear that everyone agrees on the value of requiring more teachers with advanced degrees in Head Start classrooms. But it seems imprudent to impose such a dramatic new requirement without first making sure that it is paid for in full.”
National Head Start Association President and CEO Sarah Greene said: “I want to be clear that we are all for more teachers with BAs and AAs in Head Start classrooms. This is something we have been working towards for a number of years now. If Congress wants to speed things up, it needs to make sure that it doesn’t do so by robbing Peter to pay Paul. Otherwise, federal lawmakers will end up triggering massive cuts in Head Start services and, ironically, in the very ranks of the teachers in which they are so concerned.”
Absorka Head Start Program Director Elaine Laird, in Worland, WY., said: “There are issues faced by Wyoming, and other rural states, that have not been taken into consideration in the crafting of this bill. These issues will have negative consequences for Head Start programs, which translates into negative consequences on our children and families. While all of our Head Start teachers have been able to attend local community colleges and receive their AA Degrees, obtaining a BA degree is much harder for our teachers. Our Head Start program is more than 5 hours away from the University of Wyoming. Additionally, the Senate bill requires every Head Start center to meet the new teacher requirements. In the past, when legislative benchmarks were set for increasing teacher credentials, they were based on a national goal. This took into consideration the special circumstances such as those in Wyoming, where it will take much longer to have all the required teachers with the right degrees in place.”
Holyoke/Chicopee/Springfield Head Start Inc. Education Manager Judy Battista, in Springfield, MA., said: “The Senate bill’s well-intentioned – but unfunded -- teacher requirements could backfire. In the late 1970s, our Head Start program set out on an ambitious course to require all of our teachers to have bachelor’s Degrees. But our funding would not allow us to pay them salaries comparable to their degrees and they ended up leaving Head Start for public school jobs, where salaries and benefits are almost twice what we are able to pay. While we did everything possible to make it work, we had to abandon our stringent requirements and be more flexible in our hiring practices … Unfortunately, the Senate bill does not recognize this reality of how things would work.”
CLASP DATA HIGHLIGHTS
The CLASP analysis gauges the necessary level of federal funding to raise the degree qualifications of current Head Start teachers so that they meet the requirements of the proposed Head Start reauthorization legislation. The Senate bill (S. 1107) would require that 50 percent of all Head Start teachers in every center have a bachelor’s degree by 2011. The bill goes further to require that Head Start teachers match the teacher qualifications of state pre-K programs in those states where such requirements are more stringent than those required by Head Start (e.g., New York State’s minimum of a masters degree with an early childhood specialization). The Senate bill also requires all Head Start teachers to have an associate’s degree by 2010. According to 2004 Head Start PIR data, to meet these requirements, an nearly 18,000 BA teachers and an additional 15,000 AA teachers are needed – either in terms of new teachers or existing Head Start instructors who either would pursue or complete the pursuit of a higher degree.
CLASP calculates that the total cost of meeting the BA and AA requirements would be approximately $3.4 billion over six years. Helping enough Head Start teachers move from an Associate’s degree to a Bachelor’s degree by FY 2011 would cost approximately $234 million over six years, the amount needed to cover books, tuition and transportation. The cost of providing substitute teachers to cover participating teachers in full-day centers would be approximately $74 million over six years. Increasing the salaries of BA teachers to equal kindergarten teacher salaries in their state will be approximately $2.8 billion over six years.
By contrast, the comparable House bill (H. R. 2123) would require that 50 percent of all Head Start teachers nationwide have a Bachelor’s degree by 2011 and that beginning in 2008 all new Head Start teachers have an Associate’s degree. CLASP estimates that the cost of meeting this requirement would be $2.7 billion over six years.
ABOUT CLASP
The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) is a national non-profit that works to improve the lives of low-income people. CLASP's mission is to improve the economic security, educational and workforce prospects, and family stability of low-income parents, children, and youth and to secure equal justice for all. To carry out this mission, CLASP conducts cutting-edge research, provides insightful policy analysis, advocates at the federal and state level, and offers information and technical assistance on a range of family policy and equal justice issues.
CONTACT: Ailis Aaron, (703) 276-3265, or aaaron@hastingsgroup.com.
EDITOR’S NOTE: A streaming audio recording of a related news event will be available on the Web as of 5 p.m. ET on July 14, 2005 at
http://www.SaveHeadStart.org.
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