Lawmakers: Leave Head Start alone

Maine lawmakers Thursday evening approved a joint resolution asking President Bush and federal legislators to leave the Head Start preschool program unchanged. The resolution passed unanimously in the Maine House of Representatives and by a 20-15 vote in the Senate.

Republican-backed legislation approved by the U.S. House earlier this summer proposes increased funding for Head Start and a change in its administrative structure to give states greater control over spending.

Maine’s Democratic representatives Tom Allen and Michael Michaud voted against the measure.

Referencing a Department of Health and Human Services study showing that in school Head Start kids lag behind children who go through other preschool programs, the bill would increase the program’s emphasis on academics while limiting its medical, nutritional and social interventions.

It would allow states to mix federal Head Start dollars with other public preschool funding and mandate higher levels of education for staff.

Critics of the measure say the changes would effectively dismantle the program.

At a State House press conference Thursday afternoon, House sponsor Deborah Simpson, D-Auburn, said the 38-year-old Head Start program serves as “a shining example of good government.”

Simpson, who serves on the policy council at Androscoggin Head Start in Lewiston, presented other study findings demonstrating Head Start’s success in preparing disadvantaged youngsters to enter school.

Children who participate in Head Start are less likely to repeat a grade, need special education classes or commit a crime, the studies show. They are more likely to finish high school and go on to college and, as adults, they earn more than their non-Head Start peers.

Senate sponsor Peggy Rotundo said Friday morning that stressing straight academics over health, nutrition and family support would undermine Head Start’s ability to “deal with the whole child.”

Head Start’s comprehensive approach addresses a child’s readiness to learn on many fronts, she said, and is vital to leveling the playing field for disadvantaged children.

In addition to supporting children, Rotundo said, Head Start works with their families to promote independence, community engagement and self-advocacy.

Sen. Richard Bennett, R-Norway, opposed the resolution. Bennett said there is broad bipartisan recognition of Head Start’s success, and says allegations that proposed changes would dismantle the program amount to no more than “political posturing.”

Bennett said he is disturbed by an “inconsistent voice” in the Democrat-controlled state Legislature. “On one hand, they want state control over federal dollars,” he said, pointing to recent harangues over the provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. “On this one, they want the feds to control it.”

Bennett said it was ironic that “the people charged with spending the money would be so concerned over their ability to do so.”

More than 3,500 Maine preschoolers and their families take advantage of Head Start at 280 sites across the state. The overall 2002 program budget was $28.4 million, of which $3.5 million were state funds.

The Head Start resolution approved on Thursday is nonbinding and has little impact other than expressing the sentiment of the state’s legislators and the citizens they represent.

Copies of the document will be sent to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert of Illinois, Senate President and Vice President Richard Cheney, President Bush and members of Maine’s congressional delegation.