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Summary:
Head Start, a federal program that has provided comprehensive early childhood
development services to low-income children since 1965, was last reauthorized in
1998 for fiscal years 1999-2003. The program has remained funded in subsequent
years through the annual appropriations process. After unsuccessful efforts by the
past two Congresses to complete the reauthorization process, the 110th Congress has
begun its efforts in the House and Senate. In both chambers, bills to amend and
reauthorize the Head Start Act through FY2012 have been introduced, amended, and
reported by the respective committees of jurisdiction.
The Improving Head Start Act of 2007 (H.R. 1429) was introduced by
Representative Kildee on March 9, 2007. The following week, the House Committee
on Education and Labor debated, amended, and approved the bill (42-1), and the
committee?s written report accompanying the legislation (H.Rept. 110-67) was filed
on March 23, 2007.
The Head Start for School Readiness Act (S. 556) was introduced by Senator
Kennedy on February 12, 2007, and approved via voice vote by the Senate
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) on February 14. The
Chairman?s amended version of the bill was subsequently reported on March 29,
2007, with a written report (S.Rept. 110-49) filed April 10, 2007.
Both reauthorization bills propose to amend Head Start with the purpose of
improving the program?s ability to promote low-income children?s school readiness
by supporting their cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development. The
means for doing so encompass a wide range of provisions, covering issues of
program funding, administration, eligibility, accountability, quality, governance, and
coordination.
Authorization levels for funding would be increased above current funding
amounts by both bills, and eligibility would be expanded to allow for serving
children up to 130% of the poverty line. Both bills include provisions that would
increase competition for Head Start grants, by limiting the period for which a grantee
may receive grant funds to five years, before recompetition may be required.
Other similarities include increasing the percentage of the appropriation to be
reserved for Early Head Start; emphasizing coordination and collaboration with other
state and local early childhood programs; increasing staff qualifications; specifying
requirements of shared governance principles in statute; and suspending use of the
National Reporting System.
Although the overall areas addressed by the two reauthorization bills are similar,
a side-by-side comparison of provisions, alongside current law, reveals notable
differences in detail.
