Early Education Programs in Jeopardy, Snowe and Collins Reach Out

By Deirdre Fulton

Washington, D.C. – Concerned about the future of Head Start early childhood development programs, Jeanie Mills, executive director of Child and Family Opportunities, came down to Washington, D.C. yesterday to join hundreds of teachers in calling for congressional reauthorization of the Head Start bill – as long as reauthorization happens their way.

With the State of the Union address out of the way, budget season in Washington will soon be in full swing, meaning federal programs like Head Start will be evaluated to decide on policy guidelines and funding. Mills, executive director of Child and Family Opportunites, Inc., based in Ellsworth, said she was “a bit concerned about the direction the administration is taking,” regarding possible changes in the way administration of Head Start programs.

Mills, who also serves as chair of Maine’s Head Start Director’s Association, said she hopes changes during reauthorization do not shift the focus of the program, originally targeted at aiding in the overall social and academic development of low-income pre-schoolers. Head Start, she said, is not “just an early literacy program.”

President Bush has voiced his support for Head Start in general, but “has called for a major effort by Congress to strengthen the program, particularly the academic component,” said Dave Schnittger, communications director for the House Committee on Education and Workforce. Twenty to 50 percent of all children today are unprepared to succeed in school, he said, and the typical Head Start student still enters “far below” the national norm.

Head Start advocates gathered in Washington challenged the extra emphasis on literacy, saying they are worried it will crowd out the social and emotional development aspects of Head Start. Republicans, including Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE), House Education Reform Committee subchair, have pledged to leave non-academic factors, such as health and nutrition services, alone.

Another concern is the added emphasis on standardized assessment of Head Start programs, which Head Start administrators say is unnecessary and will be ineffective.

“There’s a lot of research on standardized testing for four-year-olds -- it’s just not going to work,” Mills said, adding her wariness of how the administration would use any information gathered from tests.

Sens. Susan M. Collins and Olympia J. Snowe, both Head Start supporters, said they would wait until a reauthorization proposal was formally issued before weighing in on the concerns. However, Snowe will be watchful of changes that draw Head Start too far away from its original purposes, said Dave Lackey, Snowe’s press secretary.

“She would be wary of undermining the success of Head Start in trying to realign the program in a direction where it’s not been focused before,” he said. “It’s important that students arrive at school ready to learn…but I think she wants to understand how such an approach would work before agreeing to support a significant shift from traditional Head Start mission.”

Both Snowe and Collins will continue to lobby for increased Head Start funds, nationwide and specifically for Maine. Assessing the overall progress of Head Start in Maine, Mills was optimistic but stressed the constant need for additional funds.

In Maine, approximately 40 percent of all eligible children are enrolled in Head Start programs, a number she said demonstrates the lack of adequate funds.

“We definitely need more funding to serve more children and families. We need more funding to increase and enhance the skills of our teachers, and then pay them the kind of salary that will retain them,” she said.

More hearings will take place before the reauthorization proposal is offered.

Published in The Kennebec Journal and The Morning Sentinel, in Maine.