Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions S. 1483

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

S. 1483. A bill to amend the Head Start Act to reauthorize that Act, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Mr. REED. Mr. President, I rise today as a cosponsor of the Head Start School Readiness and Coordination Act.

Since 1965, Head Start has provided comprehensive early childhood development, educational, health, nutritional, social and other services to low-income preschool children and their families. I believe our goal during the upcoming reauthorization must be to enhance, not dismantle, this essential program so it can continue its important and necessary work to lessen the effects of poverty and ensure that children are ready for school.

Head Start serves our poorest children and families but it does not reach enough of them. Although Head Start currently serves over 900,000 children, mainly 3- and 4-year-olds, 40 percent of eligible children, approximately 600,000, are currently not served. Early Head Start, arguably an even more critically important program for infants, toddlers and pregnant women given what we now know about early brain development, serves a mere 3 percent of those eligible.

Several measures are needed to improve Head Start while ensuring that its many important services are not reduced. We need to fully fund Head Start so that many more children can benefit. We need resources to improve the quality of Head Start teachers and adequately compensate them. And we need to improve coordination with child care and State-funded pre-kindergarten programs.

Unfortunately, the Administration's proposal and the House bill do none of these things. Instead they would create a block grant for States and, by doing so, eliminate both the program's Federal quality standards and the requirement for comprehensive services. With almost all States facing substantial budget deficits and many already cutting funding for early child care and pre-kindergarten programs, a block grant demonstration for one State, eight States, or more would jettison the Head Start guarantee of high quality programs and comprehensive services for our nation's low income children and families.

The Head Start School Readiness and Coordination Act preserves both the performance standards that ensure quality as well as the comprehensive services such as health screenings, immunizations, nutritious meals, emotional and behavioral supports, and direct support to parents of Head Start children. I will work hard to ensure that these important services are not diminished and that the effort to improve Head Start does not come at the expense or sacrifice of other aspects of the program.

A particular focus of mine during the past several education reauthorizations has been to ensure that our teachers get the training and continued professional development they need to help students succeed.

Currently, only 25 percent of Head Start teachers hold bachelor's degrees. A key provision in the Head Start School Readiness and Coordination Act would require all newly hired teachers to have a minimum of an Associate's degree and all classrooms to have a teacher with a Bachelor's degree by 2008. Importantly, the bill also provides funding for Head Start teachers to meet these requirements and to boost Head Start teacher's salaries to alleviate the shortage and turnover problem that currently exists. Head Start teachers typically earn half the salary of kindergarten teachers. If we expect a higher level of education from these teachers, then we must compensate them at higher levels.

Unfortunately, the House bill does not provide the means of achieving either of these goals. It is questionable whether the House bill even provides enough funding to cover the cost of inflation. It clearly does not provide funding to boost salaries or provide the additional educational training to achieve the degree requirements sought. Worse, the House bill reduces the minimum set-aside for training and technical assistance from 2 percent to 1 percent and introduces a cap of 2 percent. We will never attract and retain highly qualified teachers without financial support to enable their education and training and incentives to keep them in the Head Start program.

Another troubling aspect of both the Administration's proposal and House bill is that both would allow employment discrimination based on religion in Head Start programs run by religious groups.

Faith-based organizations are an integral part of Head Start, having already provided such services for years. We should continue to encourage their participation without allowing them to discriminate. Indeed, during the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing, the Administration witnesses were unable to provide any information on barriers faced by religious organizations in participating in Head Start, nor could they identify any research pointing to the efficacy of teaching by unified religious staff. I will fight hard to prevent such discrimination in Head Start as I have in other bills moving through Congress.

I am pleased that provisions I worked on have also been included in The Head Start School Readiness and Coordination Act.

I am particularly pleased about the over-income provision that will allow more children to qualify whose families are above the poverty line but are still struggling to make ends meet. The parental involvement provisions will encourage the continuity of their involvement and improve the academic success of children in Head Start activities. The library and museum provisions will develop and enhance close collaborations of these institutions with Head Start programs to strengthen literacy skills and other educational outcomes for children.

I commend Senators KENNEDY and DODD on their work to draft this bill, and I urge my colleagues to consider and pass this important piece of legislation.