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Washington, DC-- Today Congressman David Wu issued the following statement in response to the House
Republican efforts to play politics with the Head Start Program. The House Education Committee
held a hearing today entitled "Financial Accountability in the Head Start Early Childhood Program."
The hearing examined the findings of a recent report by the independent Government Accountability
Office (GAO).
"My Republican colleagues have decided to play politics with a program that affects the most
vulnerable members of society, low-income children. Their efforts are an attempt to stymie a
program that works instead of finding concrete solutions to some real problems that exist. The
verwhelming majority of Head Start centers provide high-quality early education that helps low-income
children prepare for school and life.
"Children who attend Head Start make gains in vocabulary, early writing, letter recognition and
social behavior, and they enter school better prepared than low-income children who do not attend
Head Start. I ask my colleagues to leave politics outside the door and work toward a bipartisan
approach to improving this important and vital program."
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Head Start is this country’s premier early education program, serving low-income children from birth
to age five, and their families. Head Start currently serves over 900,000 children and families annually,
with the continued goal of helping children begin school ready to succeed. In addition to providing
research-based academic curricula, Head Start provides an array of comprehensive services such as
health and mental health screenings and services, nutrition, dental and vision services, and extensive
parental involvement and education.
An HHS study issued in 1999 examined Head Start’s efficacy and found that Head Start children had
almost closed the achievement gap by the end of kindergarten. Other research has found Head Start
students are less likely to need special education services, are less likely to repeat a grade,
are less likely to commit crimes in adolescence and more likely to graduate from high school than
their peers.
In the last Congress, Republican leaders pushed through legislation by a one-vote margin that
would have substantially altered the Head Start Program and its goals of preparing low-income
children for learning. The legislation stalled in the Senate. It is anticipated that similar
legislation will be considered again this year.
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