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On the Issues
The Head Start Program
The Head Start program has a long tradition of delivering a wide variety of high quality services to foster the healthy development of low-income children. This program works because it takes a comprehensive approach to early childhood development -- promoting the social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development of children. Numerous studies indicate that every dollar spent on Head Start saves taxpayers $4 to $7 dollars in future education, criminal justice, and welfare expenses. Over the course of its forty-year history, Head Start has enjoyed bipartisan support and has been expanded to permit the annual enrollment of 900,000 children.
Head Start was last reauthorized in 1998 for Fiscal Years (FY) 1999-2003, and after unsuccessful efforts to complete the reauthorization process on schedule, the current, 110th Congress inherited the task of reauthorizing the program. I am pleased to report that we have succeeded. In November, the House passed legislation to reauthorize Head Start (H.R. 1429), with my support, and the President signed it into law on December 12, 2007. Among other things, the bill will improve teacher and classroom quality; strengthen the focus on school readiness; and ensure access to Head Start for more children. More information about H.R. 1429 is available on the House Education and Labor web site.
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U.S. House of Representatives
2162 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202.225.1784
Fax: 202.225.2014 |
411 W. Chapel Hill Street
NC Mutual Building, 6th Floor
Durham, NC 27701
Phone: 919.688.3004
Fax: 919.688.0940 |
5400 Trinity Road
Suite 205
Raleigh, NC 27607
Phone: 919.859.5999
Fax: 919.859.5998 |
88 Vilcom Center
Suite 140
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
Phone: 919.967.7924
Fax: 919.967.8324 |
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