[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 99 (Tuesday, June 19, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7996-S7998]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IMPROVING HEAD START ACT OF 2007

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
now proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 137, H.R. 1429, the 
Head Start authorization bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 1429) to reauthorize the Head Start Act, to 
     improve program quality, to expand access, and for other 
     purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I welcome the Senate's action on this 
important legislation, the Head Start for School Readiness Act.
  I commend Senator Enzi, Senator Dodd, and Senator Alexander for their 
bipartisan cooperation on this legislation, and I thank all the 
Senators on the HELP Committee for their contributions to improving 
Head Start to meet today's challenges. We began this process four years 
ago. Today, our bipartisan efforts have resulted in the strengthening 
of a 42 year old program that has been a lifeline of support for 
millions of low-income children preparing for school and for life.
  Since the War on Poverty, Head Start has delivered the assistance 
needed to enable disadvantaged children to arrive at school, ready to 
learn. Its comprehensive services provide balanced meals for children, 
support visits to the doctor and dentist, and teach young children 
important learning and social skills. It helps families with the 
greatest needs get on their feet, and encourages parents to participate 
actively in their child's early development.
  Years of evaluation have demonstrated that Head Start works. A 
Federal survey found that Head Start children make both academic and 
social gains under the program, and that these gains continue when 
children enter kindergarten. Once Head Start children complete their 
kindergarten year, they are near the national average of 100 in key 
areas, with scores of 93 in vocabulary, 96 in early writing, and 92 in 
early math.
  Over the years, we've also learned more about how Head Start can be 
improved. This reauthorization applies that knowledge to make 
modifications in the program, and it will enable Head Start to be even 
more effective in the years ahead.
  In this legislation, we expand Head Start to include thousands of 
low-income children who are not yet served by the program. We provide 
for better coordination of Head Start with State programs for low-
income children. We strengthen Head Start's focus on critical early 
learning skills and school readiness. We enhance the educational goals 
for Head Start teachers. We preserve the community-based structure of 
the program to ensure that the needs of local neighborhoods and their 
children are the top priority. We also provide greater accountability 
for the program, including new policies to provide improved monitoring 
visits and guarantee that programs with deficiencies receive needed 
attention and support.
  To strengthen Head Start, we must begin by providing more resources 
for it. Child poverty is on the rise again and the need for Head Start 
is greater than ever. Today, less than 50 percent of children eligible 
for Head Start participate in the program. Hundreds of thousands of 3- 
and 4-year-olds are left out because of inadequate funding. Early Head 
Start serves only 3 percent of eligible infants and toddlers. It is 
shameful that 97 percent of the children eligible for Early Head Start 
have no access to it. This legislation expands access to Head Start to 
serve as many infants, toddlers, and preschool children and their 
families as possible.
  The bill establishes goals to increase funding and expand the program 
to provide nearly $8 billion worth of services by 2010. These funding 
levels are essential to carry out the essential reforms in the 
legislation and to serve thousands of additional children and families.
  In 1994, we enacted Early Head Start to benefit infants, toddlers, 
and their families. It has worked ever since. Early Head Start children 
have larger vocabularies, lower levels of aggressive behavior, and 
higher levels of sustained attention than children not enrolled in the 
program. Early Head Start parents are more likely to play with their 
children and read to them. These activities increase a child's desire 
to learn and strengthen a family's commitment to education. Our bill 
doubles the size of Early Head Start over the course of the 
authorization, and includes a commitment to serve 56,000 additional 
children.
  The bill also establishes a Head Start Collaboration Office in every 
State to improve support for Head Start children, to align Head Start 
with kindergarten classrooms, and to strengthen its local partnerships 
with other agencies. These offices will work hand in hand with the Head 
Start network of training and technical assistance to support grantees 
in meeting the goals of preparing children for school.
  I'm especially pleased that the bill provides the blueprint needed to 
upgrade and strengthen other early childhood education programs and 
services in the states. The bill provides an active role for states in 
coordinating early childhood education and development programs, and 
designates an Early Care and Education Council in each state to 
undertake the activities essential to developing a comprehensive system 
for the nation's youngest children. The councils will conduct an 
inventory of children's needs, develop plans for data collection, 
support early childhood educators, review and upgrade early learning 
standards, and make recommendations on technical assistance and 
training. For States ready to move forward and implement their 
statewide plan, the legislation offers $100 million to support 
incentive grants for States to implement these important efforts.
  Over the past four decades, Head Start has developed quality and 
performance standards to guarantee a full range of services, so that 
children are educated in the basics about letters, numbers, and books, 
and are also healthy, well-fed, and supported in stable and nurturing 
relationships. Head

[[Page S7997]]

Start is already a model program, but we can enhance its quality even 
more.

  The bill strengthens literacy efforts currently underway in Head 
Start programs. We know the key to future reading success is to get 
young children excited about letters and books and numbers. The bill 
emphasizes language and literacy, by enhancing the literacy training 
required of Head Start teachers, continuing to promote parent literacy, 
and working to put more books into Head Start classrooms and into 
children's homes.
  In addition, we make a commitment in the bill to upgrade all of the 
educational components of Head Start, and ensure that the services are 
aligned with expectations for children's kindergarten year and continue 
to be driven by the effective Head Start Child Outcomes Framework.
  At the heart of Head Start's success are its teachers and staff. They 
are caring, committed leaders who know the children they serve and are 
dedicated to improving their lives. They help children learn to 
identify letters of the alphabet and arrange the pieces of puzzles. 
They teach them to brush their teeth, wash their hands, make friends 
and follow rules. Yet their salary is only half the salary of 
kindergarten teachers, and the turnover is high, about 11 percent a 
year.
  Because teacher quality is directly related to a child's outcome, our 
bill establishes a goal to ensure that every Head Start teacher earns 
an A.A. degree, and that half earn their B.A. degree by the next time 
Congress revisits the program. Head Start teachers and staff are the 
greatest resource for children and families in the program, and 
investing in their development must be a priority. I look forward to 
working with my colleagues to match these ambitious goals with the 
funding needed to make them a reality.
  Our legislation also gives local Head Start programs greater 
authority to assess the needs of families in their communities and 
define the services necessary to meet those needs. We've lifted the 
eligibility requirements under the program, so that families living 
below 130 percent of the Federal poverty rate can qualify and 
participate in Head Start. Yet we still prioritize services to children 
who need them the most. If programs determine that a greater share of 
infants and toddlers need services, our bill allows them to apply to 
the Secretary to convert and expand services to our youngest children. 
If programs identify a need to provide full-day or full-year care for 
children and families, they can take steps to do this as well.
  Accountability is a cornerstone of excellence in education and should 
start early. Head Start should be accountable for its commitment to 
provide safe and healthy learning environments, to support each child's 
individual pattern of development and learning, to cement community 
partnerships in services for children, and to involve parents in their 
child's growth.
  Head Start reviews are already among the most extensive in the field. 
Our bill takes a further step to improve this process by ensuring that 
monitoring results and feedback are available to programs and used for 
their improvement. We also take steps to address programs with serious 
deficiencies, and ensure that substantial problems in programs do not 
languish at the expense of children. If a local program is unable to 
meet Head Start's high standards of quality, others should step in. 
Every Head Start child deserves to develop and learn in a high-quality 
program.
  Our bill also takes an important step to suspend the Head Start 
National Reporting System. Four years ago, many of us insisted that 
instead of rushing forward with a national test of hundreds of 
thousands of children, Head Start would be better served if plans were 
developed more deliberately to ensure an appropriate means to gather 
and report child outcomes in programs. That appeal was ignored, and the 
Administration proceeded with an assessment--without sufficient 
authorization or oversight from Congress--that was later proven flawed 
and inconsistent with professional standards for testing and 
measurement.
  This legislation requires that the assessments used in Head Start 
must be held to the highest standard. Head Start's measures must be 
valid and reliable, fair to children from all backgrounds, balanced in 
what they assess, and sufficient to reflect the development of the 
whole child. We've called on the National Academy of Sciences to survey 
and study the state of assessments and outcomes appropriate for young 
children in environments like Head Start. Their study will be of great 
value as we consider how best to move forward in Head Start and other 
early childhood settings.
  Finally, the bill maintains the essential Federal-to-local structure 
of Head Start, and rejects other proposals that would dilute this 
important focus. Head Start's design enables it to tailor its services 
to meet local community needs. Head Start's regulations guarantee a 
universal standard of quality across all programs. Yet each program is 
unique and specifically adapted to its children and families. The focus 
on local neighborhoods and their children must always be at the heart 
of Head Start.
  One of our highest priorities in Congress is to expand educational 
opportunities for every American. In this age of globalization, every 
citizen deserves a chance to acquire the educational skills needed to 
compete in the modem economy. This process starts early--it begins at 
birth and continues throughout the early years, long before children 
enter kindergarten.
  The Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007 will keep Head Start 
on its successful path, and enable this vital program to continue to 
thrive and improve. I look forward to swift passage of this legislation 
in the Senate, and a productive Conference with the House on the 
important reforms in this bill.
  (At the request of Mr. Reid, the following statement was ordered to 
be printed in the Record.)
 Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I am delighted to join my colleagues 
in supporting the Head Start for School Readiness Act, which 
reauthorizes this critically important program to help prepare our most 
disadvantaged young children to attend school. We have worked hard to 
bring this bipartisan bill to the floor, and I particularly thank 
Senators Kennedy, Enzi, and Alexander for their leadership on this 
issue.
  For more than 40 years, Head Start provided comprehensive early 
childhood development services to low-income children, creating an 
important bridge to kindergarten and beyond.
  Head Start addresses the comprehensive needs of children and their 
families by offering not only academic opportunities, but also supports 
for health, nutrition, social skills, and more. More than 900,000 
children across the Nation, including nearly 9,000 children in 
Connecticut, depend on Head Start to support their social, emotional, 
physical, and cognitive development. Head Start is the foundation for a 
lifetime of learning for many of our most vulnerable children, and this 
reauthorization provides for continued success, while also 
strengthening the program.
  Among the many improvements in this legislation, of great importance 
is the expanded access to Head Start for more disadvantaged children. 
In Connecticut and other States where the cost of living is 
particularly high, many poor families aren't able to enroll their 
children in Head Start because they earn incomes just above the poverty 
level. This reauthorization allows programs to serve families with 
incomes up to 130 percent of the Federal poverty level, and expands 
opportunities for children of migrant families, Indian children, 
homeless children, foster children, as well as additional infants and 
toddler in Early Head Start programs.
  Currently, only half of all eligible children are served in Head 
Start, and fewer than 5 percent are served in Early Head Start. Head 
Start programs are also facing tremendous increases in operating costs, 
including transportation, health care premiums, facilities maintenance, 
and training for staff; yet Head Start has essentially been flatfunded 
for years. This legislation authorizes an increase from $6.9 billion in 
the current fiscal year, to $7.3 billion in fiscal year 2008, $7.5 
billion in fiscal year 2009, and $7.9 billion in fiscal year 2010, 
which will begin to meet the needs of Head Start children and allow for 
more enrollment opportunities. However, we must also acknowledge that 
we still have far to go before we provide adequate resources to this 
invaluable program.

[[Page S7998]]

  We know that children struggle when their families are not involved 
in their education; and that parents play the most important role in 
ensuring the success of their children. This legislation encourages a 
high level of family involvement, maintains the integral participation 
of parents in the day-to-day operations of the programs, and offers 
family members key roles as decisionmakers.
  I am pleased that this bill also improves program accountability by 
further clarifying governance responsibilities and enhancing teacher 
quality expectations. While we establish goals for improving 
educational standards for staff, we acknowledge that current resources 
may not adequately support staff to pursue additional training, nor 
provide enough for increased wages; therefore, we do not make these 
standards mandatory.
  Head Start must continue to maintain a core and integral role in our 
broader early childhood care and education systems as we expand our 
efforts to improve early education across this country. The legislation 
encourages greater collaboration and coordination with other early 
childhood development programs.
  Passing the Head Start for School Readiness Act today is an important 
step forward to improve opportunities for low-income children. Nothing 
reduces poverty like learning, and Head Start gives children what they 
need to learn early. I look forward to working with my colleagues to 
see that this important legislation becomes law.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I would like to inquire of Chairman 
Kennedy regarding the State advisory councils on early childhood 
education and care included in S. 556, the Head Start for School 
Readiness Act.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, S. 556 affirms the active role that 
States have in coordinating their system of early childhood education 
programs, and encourages States to enhance that role to increase the 
quality of programs available to young children. The act designates an 
early care and education council in each State for the purposes of 
conducting an inventory of children's needs and exploring the 
availability of prekindergarten opportunities; exploring areas for 
collaboration and coordination across programs; developing plans for 
data collection and to support the professional development of early 
childhood educators; and providing for the review and upgrading of 
State early learning standards. For those States prepared and 
interested in moving forward with a statewide plan encompassing these 
activities, S. 556 provides for one-time incentive grants to further 
develop and implement these important efforts.
  S. 556 also permit States to designate an existing entity to serve as 
the State advisory council on early childhood education and care, if 
such entity includes representation consistent with members mentioned 
in the act.
  Mrs. MURRAY. I thank the chairman for his explanation of these 
provisions. I am concerned, however, that it may not be practical for 
States with existing advisory councils to reconfigure their membership 
to reflect all of the individuals mentioned in the Head Start bill. In 
my home State of Washington, we are leading the way on early childhood 
coordination and reform with the establishment in 2005 of Governor 
Gregoire's cabinet-level Department of Early Learning and the Early 
Learning Council, which became the Early Learning Advisory Council. The 
council is working hard to make sure early learning programs in my 
State are aligned and are providing high quality services. However, I 
want to make sure that the council is not unduly burdened for being a 
leader, and that it will not have to reconstitute its membership. I ask 
the chairman for his commitment to work with me as this bill is 
considered in conference with the House, to further resolve this issue.
  Mr. KENNEDY. I agree and would be happy to work with you on this 
issue. S. 556 directs Governors to designate specific individuals as 
members of the State advisory council to the maximum extent possible. 
While some members may need to be added by States to their existing 
councils in order to meet the goals of this legislation, I agree fully 
that Governors will need some flexibility in this function. Therefore, 
I support grant additional discretion as they consider the makeup and 
function of their existing councils in relation to the roles and 
responsibilities under this Act.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I share Senator Murray's concerns and 
appreciate the commitment to working with us on this issue.
  S. 556 also includes specific responsibilities of the State advisory 
council regarding early childhood activities, professional development 
and opportunities for coordination and collaboration. My State of 
Connecticut has been a leader in promoting the coordination and 
improvement of early learning opportunities for young children and has 
successfully carried out activities that complement the 
responsibilities under this act. Connecticut's Early Childhood 
Education Cabinet, which includes many of the members required by the 
Head Start Act, already advises the State on policy and on initiatives 
to meet early childhood goals, conducts statewide evaluations of the 
school readiness programs, and promotes collaboration and consistency 
of quality services.
  Is it the intention that States would be required to abandon the 
progress made with their existing efforts and begin new initiatives to 
fulfill their responsibilities under S. 556?
  Mr. KENNEDY. I appreciate the Senator's inquiry on this important 
point. That is not my intention, and S. 556 does not stipulate any 
requirements for States to conduct new efforts concerning their 
assessment of children's needs, opportunities for collaboration and 
coordination, the establishment of a unified data system, professional 
development activities, or other efforts described under the 
responsibilities of the State Advisory Council in this legislation. My 
own State of Massachusetts has also been a leader in carrying out 
several of these efforts through our own State Department of Early Care 
and Education.
  Preexisting and current efforts in States to improve and enhance the 
quality of early childhood education programs would certainly help 
fulfill and count toward the responsibilities stipulated by the Head 
Start for School Readiness Act.
  I ask Senator Enzi if he agrees with this point.
  Mr. ENZI. I do agree with the chairman and would be happy to join 
him, Senator Dodd, and Senator Murray in further clarifying these 
points as the conference committee considers S. 556 and begins its work 
on the reauthorization of the Head Start Act.
  Mr. KENNEDY. I thank my colleagues for their work with me on these 
issues, and I commend them for their leadership on the important 
reforms in this bill.
  Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the substitute amendment at 
the desk be considered and agreed to and the motion to reconsider be 
laid upon the table; that the bill, as amended, be read three times, 
passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table; that the 
Senate insist upon its amendment, request a conference with the House 
on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses, and the Chair be authorized 
to appoint conferees on the part of the Senate; and that the HELP 
Committee be appointed as conferees, with the above occurring without 
further intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 1714) was agreed to.
  (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of 
Amendments.'')
  The amendment was ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read a 
third time.
  The bill was read the third time and passed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER appointed Senators Kennedy, Dodd, Harkin, 
Mikulski, Bingaman, Murray, Reed, Clinton, Obama, Sanders, Brown, Enzi, 
Gregg, Alexander, Burr, Isakson, Murkowski, Hatch, Roberts, Allard, and 
Coburn conferees on the part of the Senate.

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