[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 113 (Monday, July 28, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10062-S10065]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ALEXANDER:
  S. 1474. A bill to amend the Head Start Act to designate up to 200 
Head Start centers as Centers of Excellence in Early Childhood, and for 
other purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I introduce today a bill to be 
considered as part of the legislation reauthorizing Head Start. My bill 
would create a way for states to help strengthen and coordinate Head 
Start, but would continue to send federal funds directly to grantees 
for the 19,000 Head Start centers that serve one million disadvantaged 
children.
  My proposal authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to 
create a nationwide network of 200 Centers of Excellence in Early 
Childhood built around exemplary Head Start programs. These Centers of 
Excellence would be nominated by Governors. Each Center of Excellence 
would receive a Federal bonus grant of at least $100,000 in each of 5 
years, in addition to its base funding. And each State would receive a 
grant to establish and fund a State Council in Early Childhood, which 
would work with the State Head Start collaboration office to showcase 
the work of exemplary Head Start centers within a state, capture and 
disseminate best practices, and identify barriers to and opportunities 
for coordinated service delivery.
  The bill would authorize $100 million for those grants for each of 
the 5 years.
  The Centers of Excellence bonus grants will be used for centers:


[[Page S10063]]


       (1) to work in their community to model the best of what 
     Head Start can do for at-risk children and families, 
     including getting those children ready for school and ready 
     for academic success;
       (2) to coordinate all early childhood services in their 
     community;
       (3) to offer training and support to all professionals 
     working with at-risk children;
       (4) to track these families and ensure seamless continuity 
     of services from prenatal to age 8;
       (5) to become models of excellence by all performance 
     measures and be willing to be held accountable for good 
     outcomes for our most disadvantaged children; and
       (6) to have the flexibility to serve additional Head Start 
     or early Head Start children or provide more full-day 
     services to better meet the needs of working parents.

  Head Start has been one of our country's most successful and popular 
social programs. That is because it is based upon the principle of 
equal opportunity, which is at the core of the American character. 
Americans uniquely believe that each of us has the right to begin at 
the same starting line and that, if we do, anything is possible for any 
one of us.
  We also understand that some of us need help getting to that starting 
line. Most Federal funding for social programs is based upon this 
understanding of equal opportunity.
  Head Start began in 1965 to make it more likely that disadvantaged 
children would successfully arrive at one of the most important of our 
starting lines, the beginning of school.
  Head Start over the years has served hundreds of thousands of our 
most at risk children. The program has grown and changed. It has been 
subjected to debates and studies touting its successes and decrying its 
deficiencies. But Head Start has stood the test of time because it is 
so very important.
  We have made great progress in what we know about the early growth 
and development of young children since Head Start began in 1965. At 
that time very few professionals had studied early childhood education. 
Even fewer had designed programs specifically for children in poverty.
  The origins of Head Start had its roots in an understanding that 
success for these children was not only about education. The program 
was designed to be certain these children were healthy, got their 
immunizations, were fed hot meals, and, of crucial importance that 
their parents were deeply involved in the program.
  From the beginning comprehensive services and parent and community 
involvement were essential parts of good Head Start programs. And that 
is still true today. In the early days, teacher training and curriculum 
were seen as less important. But we now know a great deal more about 
brain development and how children learn from birth.
  Today young children are expected to learn more and be able to do 
more in order to succeed in school. Public schools offer kindergarten 
and 40 states now offer early childhood programs.
  In addition to the $7 billion spent each year on federal Head Start 
programs, there are 69 other federal and state programs costing $18 
billion a year. The greatest increases have come in private spending as 
parents seek early childhood development services for their own 
children.
  As Congress approached the 5-year reauthorization of Head Start, 
President Bush challenged Congress to make a ``good Head Start program 
excellent.'' The President suggested four objectives for strengthening 
Head Start:

       (1) Improve school readiness by focusing more attention on 
     specific cognitive development;
       (2) Increase accountability;
       (3) Improve coordination with other programs that serve 
     young children, including public and private schools.
       (4) Increase state involvement in strengthening Head Start 
     by transferring federal funding for Head Start to states, 
     with certain criteria and restrictions.

  The House of Representatives completed work last week on the 
reauthorization bill. It is called the School Readiness Act. It made 
significant progress toward the President's first three objectives: 
school readiness, accountability, and coordination.

       (1) On school readiness, the bill would ensure a greater 
     number of Head Start teachers are adequately trained.
       (2) On accountability, the triennial reviews are 
     strengthened by adding unscheduled visits, and chronic 
     underachievers would be subject to a more aggressive review.
       (3) On coordination, the bill expands the requirements for 
     the State Head Start Collaboration Offices to coordination.

  As for the idea of letting states administer Head Start, the House 
created a pilot program that would allow eight states to take over Head 
Start as long as they maintain or improve the level of services.
  As the Senate begins its consideration of Head Start, I believe there 
is consensus about the need to improve school readiness, 
accountability, and coordination of programs--but no consensus on how 
to involve the states more actively.
  I believe that states should be more involved with Head Start. States 
have primary responsibility for setting standards for and funding 
public education. A child who arrives at school too far behind the 
starting line may never catch up. In addition, the state is in the best 
position to help coordinate the variety of public and private programs 
that have grown up since Head Start began.
  But the need to involve states does not necessarily mean sending 
federal dollars first to states and then to Head Start centers. As 
important as the state is, education and caring for children is 
primarily local--a community and family responsibility. I believe that 
in education and in child care local solutions work best.
  While Head Start centers are uneven in performance, they have 
generally excelled in two areas critical to success in caring for 
and educating children--developing community support and encouraging 
parental involvement. I do not believe that it would be wise--at least 
at this stage of the Head Start program--to risk interrupting the 
strong community support and parental involvement in the 19,000 Head 
Start centers by transferring funding to the states. There are other 
and better ways to meet this objective.

  That is why I believe creating a nationwide network of 200 Head Start 
Centers of Excellence in Early Childhood is the right step for the next 
5 years. Governors would nominate 149 of these centers. Governors would 
create or designate a State Council for Early Childhood. Governors 
could then use these Centers of Excellence and the State Council to 
encourage other centers to adopt best practices and to improve 
coordination of programs.
  At the federal level additional funds will be made available--$100 
million is authorized--for research on the effectiveness of these 
Centers of Excellence as a strategy for coordination of all early 
childhood federal and state programs and ensure school success for at-
risk children.
  In addition, I would hope the President would convene an annual 
conference of these Centers of Excellence and State Councils to 
highlight their successes. After four years, we would learn from these 
activities how state involvement in Head Start might be increased in 
the next 5-year authorization.
  Alex Haley, the author of Roots lived by these six words, ``Find the 
good and praise it.'' For me that was an invaluable lesson. My mother 
taught me another invaluable lesson--the importance of preschool 
education. When I was growing up, she ran a kindergarten in a converted 
garage in our backyard in Maryville, Tennessee. She helped our 
community appreciate the value of a good preschool program. I have 
remembered both lessons in trying to fashion this proposal to bring out 
the best in Head Start.
  The work that the House of Representatives has done on readiness, 
accountability and coordination--plus the adoption of this proposal for 
200 Centers of Excellence in Early Childhood should provide a strong 
basis for our Head Start reauthorization bill.
  The president would have challenged the Congress to improve Head 
Start in four major respects--readiness accountability, coordination, 
and state involvement--and he will be able to sign legislation that 
will do just that.
  I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a one-page 
summary of my bill and a copy of the bill itself.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

          Head Start Centers of Excellence in Early Childhood

       What are the objectives for reauthorization? The 
     reauthorization should strengthen Head Start for one million 
     disadvantaged

[[Page S10064]]

     children in all 19,000 Head Start Centers by improving (1) 
     school readiness, (2) accountability, and (3) coordination 
     with other programs that serve young children, including 
     public and private schools.
       What is the proposal? In support of these objectives, to 
     create a nationwide network of 200 Centers of Excellence in 
     Early Childhood built around exemplary Head Start centers. 
     These Centers of Excellence will receive a special grant to 
     serve as a ``magnet'' for teachers and others working with 
     at-risk young children to come, learn, and develop action 
     plans to take back to improve their own practices.
       Exactly how would the Centers of Excellence do this? The 
     Centers of Excellence will strengthen Head Start, early 
     childhood programs and public and private schools by: (1) 
     modeling excellence in high quality seamless service 
     coordination while achieving measured academic success in 
     pre-literacy, number recognition and school readiness; (2) 
     modeling the use of effective accountability systems; (3) 
     coordinating services for low-income children from prenatal 
     through age 8; (4) following children who transition from 
     Head Start to public or private schools, working with both 
     their parents and their teachers; (5) providing support and 
     training to teachers and others working with those low-income 
     children, sharing best practices and dramatically leveraging 
     themselves; (6) having the flexibility to serve additional 
     Head Start or Early Head Start children or to provide more 
     full-day services to better meet the needs of working 
     parents.
       Who could become a Center of Excellence? All 19,000 Head 
     Start centers would be eligible to apply for five-year 
     designations as a Center of Excellence in Early Childhood.
       Who would pick the Centers of Excellence? The Secretary of 
     HHS. One hundred forty-nine (149) of the Centers picked would 
     be selected from among applicants nominated by governors; the 
     other 51 would be picked by the Secretary to try to achieve a 
     goal of one in each state.
       What are the criteria for selection? (1) a track record of 
     achieved measured academic success including school 
     readiness, (2) a strong demonstrated ability to work with 
     parents and the community, (3) the ability to serve as a 
     model of high quality seamless service coordination, (4) the 
     ability to provide outreach support and training for teachers 
     in other Head Start programs, and in other early childhood 
     settings and in public and private schools, (5) ability to 
     work in partnership with the State Head Start Collaboration 
     Office.
       What would the states' role be in these Centers of 
     Excellence? (1) For 149 of the 200 Centers the Governor's 
     nomination is a necessary part of the application. (2) Each 
     state will receive a grant to establish and fund a State 
     Council in Early Childhood which will work with the Head 
     Start Collaboration Office to tie together the work of 
     exemplary Head Start centers within a state, capture and 
     disseminate emerging best practices and identify barriers to 
     and opportunities for better coordination of service 
     delivery.
       How will Centers of Excellence be funded? Each Center of 
     Excellence will receive a five-year grant directly from HHS. 
     These excellence grants are bonus grants and are in addition 
     to the center's base Head Start funding.
       What is the total Cost of the Centers of Excellence? $100 
     million--which includes grants to 200 Centers of Excellence 
     in Early Childhood, the grants to state council as well as 
     the costs of research and HHS administrative costs.

                                S. 1474

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Head Start Centers of 
     Excellence Act of 2003''.

     SEC. 2. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD.

       The Head Start Act is amended by inserting after section 
     641A (42 U.S.C. 9836a) the following:

     ``SEC. 641B. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD.

       ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
       ``(1) Center of excellence.--The term `center of 
     excellence' means a Center of Excellence in Early Childhood 
     designated under subsection (b).
       ``(2) State council.--The term `State council' means a 
     State Council for Excellence in Early Childhood described in 
     subsection (e).
       ``(b) Designation and Bonus Grants.--The Secretary shall 
     establish a program under which the Secretary shall--
       ``(1) designate up to 200 exemplary Head Start agencies as 
     Centers of Excellence in Early Childhood; and
       ``(2) make bonus grants to the designated centers of 
     excellence to carry out the activities described in 
     subsection (d).
       ``(c) Application and Designation.--
       ``(1) Application.--
       ``(A) In general.--To be eligible to receive designation as 
     a center of excellence under subsection (b), a Head Start 
     agency in a State shall be nominated by the Governor of the 
     State and shall submit an application to the Secretary at 
     such time, in such manner, and containing such information as 
     the Secretary may require.
       ``(B) Contents.--At a minimum, the application shall 
     include--
       ``(i) evidence that the Head Start program carried out by 
     the agency has improved the school readiness of, and enhanced 
     academic outcomes for, children who have participated in the 
     program;
       ``(ii) evidence that the program meets or exceeds Head 
     Start standards and performance measures described in 
     subsections (a) and (b) of section 641A, as evidenced by 
     successful completion of programmatic and monitoring reviews, 
     and has no citations for substantial deficiencies with 
     respect to the standards and measures;
       ``(iii) information demonstrating the existence of a 
     collaborative partnership between the Head Start agency and 
     the Governor's office;
       ``(iv) a nomination letter from the Governor, demonstrating 
     the agency's ability to carry out the coordination, 
     transition, and training services of the program to be 
     carried out under the bonus grant involved, including 
     coordination of activities with State and local agencies that 
     provide early childhood services to children and families in 
     the community served by the agency; and
       ``(v) information demonstrating the existence of, or the 
     agency's plan to establish, a local council for excellence in 
     early childhood, which shall include representatives of all 
     the institutions, agencies, and groups involved in the work 
     of the center for and the local provision of services to 
     eligible children and other at-risk children, and their 
     families.
       ``(2) Selection.--In selecting agencies to designate as 
     centers of excellence under subsection (b), the Secretary 
     shall designate at least 1 from each of the 50 States and the 
     District of Columbia.
       ``(3) Term of designation.--
       ``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), the 
     Secretary shall designate a Head Start agency as a center of 
     excellence for a 5-year term. During the period of that 
     designation, subject to the availability of appropriations, 
     the agency shall be eligible to receive a bonus grant under 
     subsection (b).
       ``(B) Revocation.--The Secretary may revoke an agency's 
     designation under subsection (b) if the Secretary determines 
     that the agency is not demonstrating adequate performance.
       ``(4) Amount of bonus grant.--The Secretary shall base the 
     amount of funding provided through a bonus grant made under 
     subsection (b) to a center of excellence for the center's 
     staff costs on the number of children served at the center of 
     excellence. The Secretary shall make such a bonus grant in an 
     amount of not less than $100,000 per year.
       ``(d) Use of Funds.--
       ``(1) Activities.--A center of excellence that receives a 
     bonus grant under subsection (b) may use the funds made 
     available through the bonus grant--
       ``(A) to provide Head Start services to additional eligible 
     children;
       ``(B) to better meet the needs of working families in the 
     community served by the center by serving more children in 
     Early Head Start programs or in full-working-day, full 
     calendar year Head Start programs;
       ``(C) to model and disseminate best practices for achieving 
     early academic success, including achieving school readiness 
     and developing preliteracy and prenumeracy skills for at-risk 
     children, and to provide seamless service delivery for 
     eligible children and their families;
       ``(D) to coordinate early childhood and social services 
     available in the community served by the center for at-risk 
     children (prenatal through age 8) and their families, 
     including services provided by child care providers, health 
     care providers, and providers of income-based financial 
     assistance, and other State and local services;
       ``(E) to provide training and cross training for Head Start 
     teachers and staff, and to develop agency leaders;
       ``(F) to provide effective transitions between Head Start 
     programs and elementary school, to facilitate ongoing 
     communication between Head Start and elementary school 
     teachers concerning children receiving Head Start services, 
     and to provide training and technical assistance to providers 
     who are public elementary school teachers and other staff of 
     local educational agencies, child care providers, family 
     service providers, and other providers of early childhood 
     services, to help the providers described in this 
     subparagraph increase their ability to work with low-income, 
     at-risk children and their families; and
       ``(G) to carry out other activities determined by the 
     center to improve the overall quality of the Head Start 
     program carried out by the agency and the program carried out 
     under the bonus grant involved.
       ``(2) Involvement of other head start agencies and 
     providers.--Not later than the second year for which the 
     center receives a bonus grant under subsection (b), the 
     center, in carrying out activities under this subsection, 
     shall work with the center's delegate agencies, several 
     additional Head Start agencies, and other providers of early 
     childhood services in the community involved, to encourage 
     the agencies and providers described in this sentence to 
     carry out model programs. The center shall establish the 
     local council described in subsection (c)(1)(B)(v).
       ``(e) State Councils for Excellence in Early Childhood.--
       ``(1) Establishment.--The Secretary shall make grants to 
     States to enable the States to establish State Councils for 
     Excellence in Early Childhood. The State council established 
     by a State shall include representatives of Head Start 
     agencies, public elementary schools, providers of early 
     childhood services (including family service providers), and 
     other entities working with centers of

[[Page S10065]]

     excellence in the State. The State council shall be chaired 
     by a Director of a center of excellence in the State.
       ``(2) Functions.--The State council shall work with the 
     State Head Start Office of Collaboration. The State council 
     shall review and compile information on the work of the 
     centers of excellence in the State, collecting and 
     disseminating information on the findings of the centers, and 
     identifying barriers to and opportunities for success in that 
     work that could be addressed at a State level. The State Head 
     Start Office of Collaboration shall address the barriers and 
     opportunities.
       ``(f) Research and Reports.--
       ``(1) Research.--The Secretary shall make a grant to an 
     independent organization to conduct research on the ability 
     of the centers of excellence to improve the school readiness 
     of children receiving Head Start services, and to positively 
     impact school results in the earliest grades. The 
     organization shall also conduct research to measure the 
     success of the centers of excellence at encouraging the 
     center's delegate agencies, additional Head Start agencies, 
     and other providers of early childhood services in the 
     communities involved to meet measurable improvement goals, 
     particularly in the area of school readiness.
       ``(2) Report.--Not later than 48 months after the date of 
     enactment of the Head Start Centers of Excellence Act of 
     2003, the organization shall prepare and submit to the 
     Secretary and Congress a report containing the results of the 
     research described in paragraph (1).
       ``(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are 
     authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2004 and each 
     subsequent fiscal year--
       ``(1) $90,000,000 to make bonus grants to centers of 
     excellence under subsection (b) to carry out activities 
     described in subsection (d);
       ``(2) $2,500,000 to pay for the administrative costs of the 
     Secretary in carrying out this section, including the cost of 
     a conference of centers of excellence;
       ``(3) $5,500,000 to make grants to States for State 
     councils to carry out the activities described in subsection 
     (e); and
       ``(4) $2,000,000 for research activities described in 
     subsection (f).''.
                                 ______