[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 112 (Friday, July 25, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1624]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      SCHOOL READINESS ACT OF 2003

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. CAROLYN McCARTHY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 24, 2003

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2210) to 
     authorize the Head Start Act to improve the school readiness 
     of disadvantaged children, and for other purposes:

  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition 
to this legislation.
  Mr. Chairman, this legislation changes the goal of Head Start from a 
level playing field for disadvantaged children and their parents to an 
undefined goal of school readiness. By creating block grants, this 
measure turns Head Start over to states, but without any of the current 
requirements related to high quality and comprehensive services that 
have made the program successful.
  While states and localities, such as Nassau County, New York which I 
represent, are facing their own budget crunches, this legislation will 
only do further harm to school budgets.
  Head Start is an important program for nearly 1 million low-income 
children and their families throughout the country and on Long Island. 
Throughout its 35-year history, Head Start has created not only high 
performance standards, but also a comprehensive system of evaluation 
and monitoring to guarantee that these standards are met.
  The Head Start system for accountability reviews programs once every 
three years to ensure that the integrity of federal dollars is 
protected and that our nation's poorest children do not miss a single 
opportunity to grow and develop.
  Head Start's accountability reaches far beyond the typical monitoring 
done in state preschool programs. A team totaling as many as 25 
reviewers spend a week reviewing every aspect of a Head Start 
operation, including: the curriculum; family and community 
partnerships; human resources; program development; teacher 
qualifications and professional development; physical and mental 
health; disability services; and language and cultural appropriateness.
  The new assessment in this legislation is a narrow one that only 
collects the data from a direct test of children's knowledge.
  This test only asks questions related to literacy, language, and 
numbers. Child development experts agree that a single direct 
assessment does not produce quality data on learning.
  Using this type of test to hold programs accountable could create a 
host of harsh results--such as the temptation to only enroll children 
who face few barriers to learning or to recruit children who will test 
well--and potentially leaving out children who desperately need Head 
Start services.
  This is especially true for those students with language barriers or 
learning disabilities. As someone with a learning disability, I know 
first hand how hard it was to overcome education obstacles. I was lucky 
enough to come from a very supportive family, but not all children are 
as lucky.
  Head Start is a success and historically has enjoyed bipartisan 
support. Unfortunately, with today's legislation, this would be for the 
first time in its 35-year lifetime that Head Start would be considered 
without strong bipartisan support. Although we should continue to 
improve the program, we should do nothing to dismantle it. 
Unfortunately, I think we are headed down that road today, and that is 
why I urge the defeat of this bill.

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