STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
By Mr. ENZI (for himself and Mr. KENNEDY):
S. 1107. A bill to reauthorize the Head Start Act, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Head Start Improvements for School Readiness Act with my colleague, Senator KENNEDY.
This legislation would reauthorize the Head Start program and make important improvements to the Head Start Act and help ensure that today's children receiving services by this important program will be better prepared for success in the future. Success in life depends a great deal on the preparation for that success, which comes early in life. It is well documented in early childhood education research that students who are not reading well by the third grade will struggle with reading most of their lives. That is why the Head Start program is so important. Head Start provides early education for thousands of children each year, most of whom would not have the opportunity to attend preschool programs elsewhere.
The Head Start program is important generally, but there is some room for improvement. Earlier this year the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held a hearing on the administration of the Head Start program, and found that a number of changes might help improve the performance of the program overall.
The first change required by this program would be providing for all Head Start grantees found to have a deficiency to recompete the next time the program's grant is up for renewal. The bill would also require grantees to recompete if they have not resolved issues of noncompliance within 120 days, or a longer time specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. This will create an important incentive for programs to operate at their best, which is in the best interest of our children.
The bill would also shorten the timeline for programs to be terminated. In some instances, Head Start grantees have been found to be operating programs that are unsafe, or improperly using Federal funds. In these cases, the Administration has acted to terminate these programs. Unfortunately, under the law, Head Start grantees have been able to appeal these rulings. This process can be lengthy, some examples exceed 600 days, or almost two years, before a final ruling is made. In order to address this issue, and put the health and education of children first, the legislation we introduce today would limit the time available for Head Start grantees to appeal decisions made by the Secretary to terminate grants.
A third improvement is to clarify the role of the governing body and policy councils in individual Head Start programs. After careful review, the Committee found that many of the important fiscal and legal responsibilities of Head Start grantees were not explicitly assigned to either the policy council or the governing body, or in many instances, were assigned equally to both. In order to clarify the shared governance model, the bill we introduce today would clarify the responsibilities of the governing body and the policy council for each Head Start grantee. We believe this will lead to more consistent, high quality fiscal and legal management, which will ensure these programs are serving children in the best way they can.
I wish to thank my colleagues on the Committee, particularly Senator KENNEDY, for their help in drafting this bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Head Start Act. I believe the legislation we are introducing today will improve the quality and effectiveness of the Head Start program for generations of children to come.
I ask unanimous consent that a copy of the bill be printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
S. 1107
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