Congress Sends Head Start to President

On Wednesday, both the House and Senate passed the conference report on H.R. 1429, the Head Start reauthorization bill, clearing it for the President’s signature. The bill, which began its travel through Congress last spring, passed the House by a vote of 381-36, and the Senate by a vote of 95-0. Despite certain misgivings regarding faith-based Head Start providers, President Bush is expected to sign the bill. The 42-year-old program serves about 909,000 disadvantaged children, aiming to help prepare them for school academically, emotionally and socially.
The bill authorizes $7.35 billion for fiscal year 2008, $7.65 billion for fiscal 2009 and $7.99 billion for fiscal 2010. New funds would be dedicated to attracting teachers with bachelors’ degrees and for monitoring the effectiveness of Head Start centers. The program hasn’t been reauthorized since 2003.


Through the bill, Congress sets a goal that all Head Start teachers will have at least an associate's degree and half will have a bachelor's degree by 2013. It expands eligibility to families just above the federal poverty level, and directs money to programs for younger children and migrant and Native American students. The White House pushed for inclusion of a provision allowing faith-based Head Start providers to hire based on religious preference. Similar proposals killed the bill in earlier sessions of Congress so it was not included in either chamber this year.
The bill sat in legislative limbo before heading to conference last week. The bill was first introduced in the House in March, and passed through the chamber on May 2, 2007. The Senate did not pick up the bill until June, passing their version on June 19, 2007. The bill then stayed in a pre-conference holding pattern until party leaders decided to move forward with it last week. The cause for the sudden reemergence is most likely due to the decision to forgo any more action on reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Although the Higher Education Act (HEA) may still make it to the President this year, Congressional leaders wanted at least one major piece of early education legislation to make it through Congress.

Resources:
Maria Gold, “Bill to Expand Head Start, Bolster Its Teacher Qualifications Is Approved,” Washington Post, November 15, 2007.
Geof Koss, “Senate Approves Head Start Reauthorization,” Congress Now, November 14, 2007.
Author: SAS