House Approves Head Start Reauthorization

September 22, 2005

WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman David Dreier (R-CA), Chairman of the House Rules Committee, voted today to approve legislation designed to restore fiscal accountability to the Head Start program. The School Readiness Act of 2005, H.R. 2123, was approved with bipartisan support, 231-184.

"Head Start is a critical program that serves millions of families nationwide, but a recent report indicated that the potential for financial abuses was high," Dreier said. "This reauthorization addresses these abuses through greater transparency and enhanced accountability. A program that is meant to give our nation’s most vulnerable children a strong start to their education must be financially sound. Abuses cannot be tolerated."

The General Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report earlier this year warning that the financial control system in Head Start is flawed and failing to prevent multi-million dollar financial abuses. Several provisions in H.R. 2123 would address these abuses by requiring annual independent financial audits for grantees; authorizing the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct unscheduled reviews of Head Start programs; and requiring all grantees to publish an annual report detailing how money was spent. Additionally, the bill requires that within three years of enactment all newly hired Head Start teachers have at least an associate’s degree, and that by 2011, half of all Head Start teachers have at least a baccalaureate degree. It also requires deficient grantees to compete again for their federal grants.

The House also adopted an amendment that would withhold federal funds from organizations that discriminate on the basis of race, sex, political affiliation, or beliefs, but makes an exception for religious organizations. This has the effect of allowing religious organizations receiving Head Start funds to hire people of the same faith. Dreier supported the amendment, saying that in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, it was obvious that religious organizations across the country were able to support evacuees in many different ways. "Government cannot provide all the answers," Dreier said. "Religious groups that want to help should be able to do so, and if they can do so through an established program like Head Start, I believe they should be able to. It’s not about discrimination, but about reaching out with a helping hand. At this time of national need, we’ve seen how much that helping hand can provide."