Improving Head Start
A new school year is now underway, and it's that time of year when we take a closer look at how we educate our children. Recently, the House of Representatives passed landmark legislation to improve and enhance the federal Head Start program, which has served over 20 million low-income children since its inception. It provides early education for children who otherwise would not receive it so that they will be prepared when they enter school. Head Start is a good program, but it can do even more for the children it serves. According to a recent study by the Department of Health and Human Services, Head Start children fall behind their peers in important areas of early learning knowledge that have been shown to be good predictors of success later in school. In response to this study, the House passed the School Readiness Act of 2003, H.R. 2210.
The legislation would emphasize what is working in Head Start and build on those successes. Specifically, it would strengthen the program's academic standards in the areas critical to children's school readiness including language, pre-reading, pre-mathematics, and English language acquisition. Teacher quality is also critical to the success of Head Start and its students. The bill approved by the House will require that more teachers have at least an associate degree in early childhood education and that 50 percent of Head Start teachers have a bachelors degree by 2008.
The School Readiness Act also provides incentives for states to maintain or expand funding for early childhood education. The bill sets up a pilot program in which eight states that are currently matching 50 percent of the federal commitment with state and local funds for an early childhood education program will have the ability to apply for and receive the option of coordinating Head Start programs with their own programs. It would prohibit these states from making funding cuts to their programs as a condition of their participation. Many Head Start programs across the country also provide essential health and nutrition-related services to their students which will be preserved and extended.
The children who participate in Head Start need and deserve the absolute best. The School Readiness Act will go a long way toward improving a program that has already influenced millions of lives and futures. The better we prepare these children now, the better prepared they will be for school and for life.
