Washington, D.C. - One of the top priorities of the 108th Congress is to guarantee that American students have access to the best education in the world. We must set high standards for our children and do everything we can to help students reach those standards. It is one of the best investments we can make in our children and the future of our nation. Education is as important as ever as we prepare for the global economy of the 21st century.
To maximize student potential, we must start early planting the seeds of success in school. We need to dramatically improve child literacy, the gateway to all future learning. We must work hard to ensure that even our neediest students have access to quality education. One of the most effective ways to accomplish this goal is through the premier early education program known as Head Start.
Research shows that Head Start programs narrow the gap between disadvantaged children and their middle class peers in vocabulary and writing skills. Head Start children leave the program ready to learn. Head Start graduates make substantial progress in word knowledge, letter recognition, math skills, and writing skills relative to national averages.
Head Start was designed to help break the cycle of poverty by providing preschool children of low-income families with a comprehensive program to meet their educational, emotional, social, health, and nutritional needs.
Research has also shown that children who participate in Head Start programs also develop behavior patterns that prepare them for success in school such as engaging in tasks, paying attention and showing less aggression. Head Start children achieve gains on standardized tests of cognitive and language development, may need fewer special learning interventions later on, and performed better on critical social-emotional tasks, such as relating to their parents, paying attention and behaving appropriately.
Head Start serves children from families who live at or below the federal poverty line. For a family of four this year, that amounts to an annual income of $18,400. Unfortunately, because of a lack of resources, Head Start serves just three out of five eligible preschoolers. Nearly 40% of America’s poor children who could benefit from Head Start services cannot currently access the program.
To address these problems, I recently offered amendments to The School Readiness Act of 2003, which would have fully funded the landmark Head Start program by 2008 and allowed Head Start grantees like Montgomery County Public Schools to defray the costs of complying with the program's recently announced transportation safety regulations.
Under these amendments, all eligible three to four year olds would have been able to access Head Start services by 2008, and enrollment rates for infants and toddlers in the Early Head Start program would have doubled. Additionally, local Head Start agencies would not have been forced to choose between transportation safety and participation when allocating scarce dollars.
Unfortunately, these amendments, to open the door of Head Start to all eligible children, were defeated along party lines. The majority said the price tag of roughly $13 billion over the years was too high -- even as they lauded their recent $350 billion tax cut trust benefits the wealthiest in our country. A Congress with its priorities in order would have extended the benefits of this proven program to all of America’s neediest children.