President Signs Head Start Bill

On Wednesday, President Bush signed H.R. 1429, the Head Start Reauthorization bill, into law. Congress made a big push last month to send the bill to the President, in lieu of other education-related reauthorization bills. The reauthorization of Head Start had been pending since 2003.



The new bill authorizes increased spending for the program, starting at $7.35 billion for fiscal 2008. The bill seeks to improve the quality of Head Start teachers, tighten program accountability and update the current system of standards and assessments. Under the final bill, the income level at which families become eligible for Head Start will increase from 100% of the federal poverty level to 130%, but the neediest children receive priority. The measure will also require that half of Head Start teachers nationwide have at least a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field by 2013.

The President signed the bill, despite Congress’ failure to add a provision he sought regarding faith-based Head Start providers. The President pushed for a provision that would allow faith-based providers to discriminate in their hiring practices based on religion. The Republican majority of the 109th Congress attempted to add the provision when they tried to pass a reauthorization bill, but their efforts failed. The current Democratic majority threw out the President’s proposal at the outset of its work on the bill. However, despite the lack of consideration for his priorities, the President applauded the efforts to reauthorize an important early education program.

Resources:
“Head Start Extended Five Years,” Associate Press, December 13, 2007.
Author: SAS