CONTROVERSIAL
PLAN TO DISMANTLE HEAD START IS“
DEAD ON ARRIVAL” IN HOUSE BILL INTRODUCTION THIS WEEK
Stiff Opposition Seen to “Recklessly
Mortgaging” Program to Cash-Strapped States;
Hundreds of Thousands of Letters Already Sent in Opposition
to Killing Head Start.
WASHINGTON, D.C.///May 20, 2003///The
core of the widely criticized Bush Administration proposal
to dismantle the Head Start program, which serves nearly
1,000,000 at-risk children in communities all across America,
is expected to be introduced as a bill as early as Wednesday
of this week in the U.S. House even though it will be “dead
on arrival,” according to Head Start community advocates.
The National Head Start Association (NHSA) noted that the
extreme legislative attack on Head Start is so controversial
that it is expected that the reauthorizing bill will be introduced
on a non-bipartisan basis, in violation of a long tradition
of keeping Head Start strictly “non political.”
NHSA also reported that it is well on its way to its goal
of mobilizing a “grassroots army of 100,000 parents,
grandparents, educators and other concerned individuals” to
speak out in opposition to the White House plan to kill the
Head Start program. In the little more than one-month period
since its launch on April 16, 2003, the NHSA “Save
Head Start” Web site (http://www.SaveHeadStart.org)
has amassed nearly 90,000 hits and been used to send 31,500
letters and emails to members of Congress and governors.
Additionally, hundreds of thousands of letters of opposition
to the Bush plan have been generated through other means.
“The word is out and no one is buying the big lie
that the Administration’s plan would somehow improve
Head Start,” said National Head Start Association President
Sarah Greene. “It is both the height of cynicism
and a cruel slap in the face to thousands of dedicated Head
Start
educators to pretend that this ill-conceived dismantling
of Head Start would somehow be a good thing for the nearly
1 million at-risk children who very likely would be left
less ready to learn when they get to school.”
National Head Start Association Chairman Ron Herndon, who
also serves as director of the Albina Head Start Program
in Portland, OR., said: “We know that only
three states have any kind of experience providing the comprehensive
range
of services required to do what Head Start already does so
well. It makes no sense for Congress to recklessly mortgage
the success of Head Start by turning over its funding to
cash-strapped states. And we are very concerned by reports
that governors are being told that they will have considerable
latitude in the restrictions and requirements over providing
comprehensive services. We want to make sure that the people
who introduce the bill to dismantle Head Start do not get
to skate by with soothing assurances that states will have
to do everything that Head Start is doing now.”
Herndon added: “America owes the nearly 1 million
at-risk Head Start children and their families an honest
public debate about the Bush Administration’s risky
scheme to make a dead end of Head Start. Let’s stop
the cynical word games that are being used to describe the
dismantling of Head Start as something that somehow will
make it better. If Head Start funds are diverted and sent
to state governments struggling with crippling budget deficits,
you either will see fewer kids served or those who do get
help will be in programs that are not of Head Start’s
proven quality. Either outcome is a setback from where we
are today. Head Start is one of the federal government’s
great success stories. The bill expected to be introduced
this week in the U.S. House is a bad solution in search of
a nonexistent problem.”
On April 16, 2003, the National Head Start Association released
a report, “Dismantling Head Start: The Case for Saving
America’s Most Successful Early Childhood Development
Program,” warning that the controversial Bush Administration
plan to dismantle Head Start could leave nearly 1 million
at-risk children unready to learn in school since as few
as three states have experience providing the full range
of comprehensive health, nutrition and educational services
required by at-risk children and now provided by Head Start.
The NHSA report concludes that, far from “improving” Head
Start, the Administration proposal would make a “dead
end” of Head Start in five years or less, due, in part,
to the plan’s reliance on budget-deficit crippled states
that currently are slashing funds for early childhood development
and education.
As the NHSA report concludes: “Any review of the numerous
independent studies of Head Start leads to one inescapable
conclusion: Head Start delivers to America’s neediest
children exactly what its name promises – a literal ‘head
start’ in preparation for school and life.” The
federal Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) released
in January 2001 concluded that Head Start graduates enter
kindergarten ‘ready to learn.’ The most recent
Head Start Monitoring Report submitted to Congress by the
Department of Health and Human Services in February 2003
found that Head Start programs provide high quality, comprehensive
services to the children and families they serve. Other independent
studies show that Head Start children are more likely to
stay in school and less likely to be charged with or convicted
of a crime. A December 1999 Presidential Management Council
report gave Head Start a higher customer satisfaction score
than any other government agency. Head Start achieved a higher
customer satisfaction score above that of many major companies,
including Mercedes-Benz and BMW.”
The “Dismantling Head Start” report from NHSA
also documents that as few as three states are prepared to
take on the job if Head Start is dismantled. The report states: “… Given
the extraordinarily high level of assessment, evaluation
and reform required over the last four decades of Head Start,
it would be a radical departure for Congress simply to throw
caution to the wind and hope for the best in terms of what
the states might come up with to replace Head Start.” Of
the 30 state pre-school programs examined by independent
researchers, only three states -- Delaware, Oregon and Washington
-- were found to provide the same set of eight comprehensive
services required of Head Start programs. The researchers
concluded ‘whereas Head Start programs are mandated
to provide comprehensive services to all enrolled children
and families, state pre-school programs are inconsistent
in their delivery of these services.’”
NHSA also announced on April 16, 2003 the launch of its
major Web-based campaign at http://www.SaveHeadStart.org to encourage parents, grandparents, educators and others
to let federal and state elected officials know of their
opposition to the attack on Head Start.
ABOUT NHSA
The National Head Start Association is a private not-for-profit
membership organization dedicated exclusively to meeting
the needs of Head Start children and their families. The
Association provides support for the entire Head Start family
by advocating for policies that provide high-quality services
to children and their families; by providing extensive training
and professional development services to all Head Start staff;
and by developing and disseminating research, information,
and resources that impact Head Start program delivery. NHSA
represents more than 900,000 children and their families,
200,000 staff, 1,900 Head Start programs, and 600 Early Head
Start programs in America. NHSA provides a national forum
for the continued delivery and enhancement of Head Start
services for at-risk children and their families.
CONTACT: Christine Kraly, for NHSA, (703) 276-3258 or ckraly@hastingsgroup.com.
|
