Sacramento Head Start Alumni Association

Head Start on brink of state takeover

Jul 16, 2003

Head Start on brink of state takeover
By Kara Shire
CONTRA COSTA TIMES


SAN PABLO - A Republican-backed overhaul of Head Start would dismantle the program's social service offerings and weaken academic standards for thousands of Contra Costa's poorest children, Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, and others said Friday.

In a battle that's brewed for months, House Democrats are fighting a Republican push to alter the federal preschool program by giving full control to states.

The shift of power would begin as a five-year pilot project, allowing eight states with existing pre-kindergarten programs to take control of Head Start.

The House is expected to vote on the legislation next week.

Opponents say the plan threatens the future of Head Start, eliminating federal accountability standards and putting funding for preschool education at risk of state raids.

Because states would have discretion in how they run the program, some fear state control would lead to an elimination of expensive social services now offered to Head Start families.

If applied to California, the plan would likely reduce health and academic services for children in some parts of Contra Costa and Solano counties, according to a report by the Committee on Government Reform that reviewed the plan's potential impact on Miller's 7th Congressional District.

"Our concern is that what we'll end up with is a statewide program of much less quality," Miller said during a visit to a Head Start center in San Pablo. "Rather than get comprehensive services, they'll get a referral, and they'll be put on a waiting list."

Parents had similar concerns. Many feared the dental and medical services their children receive through Head Start would be eliminated.

Others worried states would reduce preschool funding, lengthening Head Start waiting lists and limiting child care options.

"I'm terrified," said Kathryn Lundgren, a San Pablo mother of three. "This would limit Head Start's overall ability to help this community. This is an amazing program."

House Republicans have said their proposals would strengthen Head Start and allow for better coordination of state and federal preschool services.

Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del., said in an earlier statement the Head Start legislation he authored would emphasize school readiness programs and improve teacher training requirements.

Miller supports most of the proposed reforms but said Republican claims that state control would allow better coordination of preschool programs are false.

"Collaboration is not a problem," he said. "The fact of the matter is this is a federally funded program that's run locally."

Created in 1965 to prepare at-risk children for school, Head Start serves 103,155 California children up to five years old -- more than 2,000 of them in Contra Costa County.

The program works to prepare children academically as well as socially, giving them and their families help with nutritional needs, mental health assessments, adult literacy and more.

California Head Start programs received a combined $801 million in federal funding in the 2001-02 fiscal year.

The Republican proposal has Head Start center workers worried about the children and also about themselves.

"If we go to the state, I know our salary is going to go down," said Flora Castaneda, a supervisor at the Los Arboles Head Start center in Oakley. "My other concern is that maybe some of us will not have a job."

Ruth Hunter, supervisor at the San Pablo center, said the state has already reduced its Head Start funding and full state control would likely bring more penny pinching.

"A lot of things would change," she said. "We could cut programs." Reach Kara Shire at 510-262-2798 or kshire@cctimes.com.


For a copy of Congressman Miller's report go to: http://ca-headstart.org/head_start_miller.pdf