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| Last Updated: Mar 24th, 2008 - 16:31:25
Billion Broken Promises: Experts Warn a Crippling Crisis Looms for Head Start
By Ailis Aaron Wolf
Jan 24, 2008, 12:31 PST
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White House, Congress Criticized for Head Start Cut in Face of $20 Billion
in Appropriations Earmarks; $1 Billion Shortfall in Funding Seen Since 2002,
$360 Million "Catch Up" Sought in Each of Next Five Years.
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| Image courtesy of the Copleys through the Creative Commons |
The White House and Congress put
Head Start -- the nation's first and most successful comprehensive
early-childhood education program -- on a path to crisis in December 2007
after first reauthorizing the program with hundreds of costly new
requirements and then failing to appropriate the funds needed to pay for
current program operations, much less the expensive new rules and
regulations. Funding for Head Start was cut in the same appropriations bill
that included more than 1,300 controversial earmarks for unrelated programs
and projects totaling an estimated $20 billion.
Many of the new Head Start requirements -- including easing the
eligibility guidelines for Head Start children from 100 to 130 percent of
the federal poverty line, increased credentials for teachers and other
staff, and priority enrollment for homeless children -- were supported by
National Head Start Association and local Head Start officials on the
assumption that the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to pay for them
would be appropriated. Other requirements were included in the
reauthorization bill as well, including mandatory enrollment of special
needs children, extensive new training and related procedures, and a huge
jump in new recordkeeping and reporting requirements (including HIPAA-like
privacy rules).
The White House and Congress reauthorized Head Start (with the addition of
the numerous new requirements) yet then proceeded in late December to enact
appropriations containing a net $10.6 million cut in Fiscal Year (FY) 2008
funds for Head Start. While some friends of Head Start in Congress fought
for the necessary extra funding for the program, the White House prevailed
in holding the line on the appropriations package that included the cut.
The new cut is only the latest example of the chronic shortchanging of the
Head Start program, according to NHSA. The hundreds of new requirements and
the reduction in FY 2008 spending compounds the woes created by five years
of failing to provide the funds needed for Head Start to keep pace with
inflation. When NHSA officials speak of a "billion broken promises," they
are referring to the failure of Washington to deliver the promised full
federal funding for Head Start.
Hundreds of Head Start programs across the United States had no choice in
2006 and 2007 but to scale back days and hours of operations, bus service,
support staff, and other critical services and manpower. With cash-strapped
Head Start programs already having slashed operations to the bone (and
beyond in some cases), the FY 2008 funding cut means that Head Start
programs will have experienced a real decline in federal support of 11
percent since FY 2002 (inflation-adjusted). The result: A Head Start
program that received $1 in FY 2002 is only receiving 89 cents in FY 2008.
If federal support for Head Start had kept pace with inflation over this
period, it would have risen from $6.54 billion in FY 2002 to $7.77 billion
in FY 2008 and $7.95 billion in FY 2009 - putting the actual shortfall well
over the "billion broken promises" level. (Note: This huge and growing gap
does not take into account the hundreds of millions of additional dollars
not provided to implement the extensive new rules and regulations included in the reauthorization bill.)
In order to regain the lost ground, Head Start officials said they will
press for additional "catch up" appropriations of $360 million per year for
FY 2009-2013. According to NHSA, those additional funds would help to pay for the new rules enacted in 2007 and erase the more than $1 billion shortfall.
National Head Start Association Board Chairman Ron Herndon, also director
of the Albina Head Start program (Portland, OR) said: "The reality is that
this White House and Congress have made and broken a billion promises when
it comes to full funding for Head Start, which has been proven to work.
Things were bad enough heading into FY 2008 when we were losing ground
relative to inflation, but now we are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
How can Head Start programs cope with the double whammy of a real cut in
appropriations at the same time as hundreds of new unfunded requirements? We
intend to make sure that Americans know that this outrage happened and what
now has to be done to fix it."
California Head Start Association President Lucia Palacios, also director
of the Orange County Head Start program (Santa Ana, CA) said: "Head Start
programs led the way in pushing for many of the changes and improvements -
including higher teacher credentials and raising eligibility to 130 percent
of the federal poverty line - but we did so on the reasonable assumption
that Congress would pay for the changes it made in reauthorizing the
program. Now, we have been put in a 10-foot hole and given a ladder that is
only six-feet tall to get out of it. We hope that when the president's
budget is put out next month, Congress will hold him accountable for the
appropriating the necessary funds to support the quality programming that
Head Start provides to children and families."
Region 3 Head Start Association President Mary Gunning, also director of
the St. Jerome's Head Start (Baltimore, MD), said: "I am particularly
concerned about the many unfunded mandates that are in this bill,
particularly as they relate to staff qualifications and training. I
certainly am a proponent of having a well trained staff, and 75 percent of
my lead teachers and Family Service Coordinators have bachelors' degrees.
However, this bill requires all Head Start teacher assistants to have a CDA
and 50 percent of teachers to have a BA or advanced degree by September 30,
2013. There is neither money allocated to pay for these credentials and
degrees nor is their funding to cover the accompanying salary increases. The
other point to consider is that many Head Start staff -- including me --
must work a second job due to the low salaries they command. This will make
it very difficult for staff to juggle the many demands of family, two jobs
and attending college or otherwise working on their degrees."
The literally hundreds of unfunded new rule changes in the 2007 Head Start
reauthorization process include the following costly items:
- Increased credentialing requirements for teachers, family service
workers and other staff.
- New employee standards and in-service training.
- Coordination with state collaboration offices and boards.
- Priority enrollment for homeless children.
- Mandatory enrollment of children with disabilities.
- Imposition of new HIPAA-like privacy requirements.
- Re-competition requirements and extensive year-one monitoring for new programs requirements.
ABOUT NHSA
The National Head Start Association (http://www.nhsa.org) is a private
not-for-profit membership organization dedicated exclusively to meeting the
needs of Head Start children and their families. It represents more than 1
million children, 200,000 staff and 2,600 Head Start programs in the United
States. The Association provides support for the entire Head Start community
by advocating for policies that strengthen services to Head Start children
and their families; by providing extensive training and professional
development to Head Start staff; and by developing and disseminating
research, information, and resources that enrich Head Start program
delivery.
© Copyright 2008 by Classbrain.com
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