House panel passes Head Start bill over Democratic opposition

Despite strong criticism from Democrats, the House Education and the Workforce Committee Thursday approved a Republican-crafted bill extending Head Start for five years.

The committee cleared the substitute bill (H.R. 2210)-which also authorizes $7 billion in funding for the federal early education program in fiscal year 2004-on a party-line 27-to-20 vote during the second day of the markup.

While Democrats and Republicans on the committee gave Head Start high marks for making significant strides in preparing disadvantaged children for success in school, they differed sharply on how to strengthen the program's impact.

Republicans said the bill will improve Head Start teacher training by requiring that half of all Head Start teachers earn a baccalaureate degree by 2008, and by calling for no new teachers to be hired without an associate's degree beginning three years after its enactment.

One of the most contentious portions of the bill calls for the creation of a pilot program that would allow up to eight states to receive block grants to coordinate Head Start with state early education programs for the first time in the program's 38-year history.

Rep. George Miller of California, the committee's ranking Democrat, characterized the bill as "a serious assault on the Head Start program" and said it would "undermine federal standards that have been carefully put in place."

But Chairman John Boehner of Ohio defended the pilot program, saying it had five years to prove itself: "Why the fear?" he asked. "It's worth trying this." He added, "If states are willing to commit to high standards and funding for early childhood education, then the federal government should be willing to let them coordinate Head Start with their own programs."

While the original Republican bill did not limit the number of states that could participate in the pilot program, a last-minute revision, offered by the bill's author-Education Reform Subcommittee Chairman Michael Castle of Delaware-scaled it back to only eight states.

But the change did little to persuade critics, who are concerned the state option program will dilute federal standards and weaken oversight and accountability. On Wednesday, the committee defeated a Democratic amendment to remove the provision.

Another controversial provision denounced by Democrats allows faith-based groups that run Head Start programs to take an individual's religious affiliation into account in making hiring decisions. Republicans also turned back a Democratic amendment to eliminate that provision on Wednesday.

Still Castle who authored the substitute bill said on Thursday: "By working with our fellow committee members and listening to the concerns of our constituents, I believe we have come up with good legislation that builds on Head Start's previous success."

But Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., had a different view. "This was supposed to be a bipartisan bill...But we really didn't work in a bipartisan way."

Created in 1965 as part of the nation's War on Poverty, Head Start currently serves about 1 million poor children a year with a comprehensive approach that includes early childhood education, health, nutrition and parental involvement. Currently, Head Start reaches only about half of the children eligible for the program. And children who do participate still enter school with lower math and verbal skills than their more affluent peers, a gap that continues throughout their school years.