WASHINGTON, D.C. - Representative Lynn Woolsey (D-Petaluma), the lead Democrat on the subcommittee responsible for all Head Start and K-12 legislation, made the following opening statement in the Education Reform Subcommittee of the U.S. House Education and the Workforce Committee. The following are Rep. Woolsey’s words as written:

 

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this hearing. In the past, October always has been Head Start Awareness Month, but given that this is the third Head Start hearing we’ve had in four weeks, I think you might be trying to change that to April.

 

“Today’s topic is a critical one. Coordination and collaboration among Head Start and other early childhood programs is essential to our children receiving the services they need to help them succeed in school and in life.

 

“Because I strongly support both Head Start and universal preschool, I strongly support Head Start’s coordination and collaboration requirements. For example, Head Start grantees must coordinate with their local educational agency to ensure a smooth transition between Head Start and kindergarten.

 

“Head Start also funds Head Start-State Collaboration Offices in each state. These offices facilitate coordination of Head Start services with other federal and state services to create an early childhood care and education system. They are required to ensure that Head Start services are coordinated with health care, welfare, child care, education, and community service activities, family literacy services, services for children with disabilities, and services for homeless children.

 

“So, I am very pleased that a number of our witnesses will testify to how well these requirements are being implemented in the field. I also am interested in hearing how we can make coordination and collaboration work even better.

 

“But, it is critical that we not allow flexibility to coordinate and collaborate to be a proxy for waiving and lowering standards. Head Start has served our most vulnerable children and families so well for 40 years because its standards have remained both high and comprehensive.

 

“We would do those children and families a great disservice by moving away from those standards. It also is important to remember that another way that we can improve our early childhood education system is to increase federal support for proven programs such as Head Start.

 

“In recent years, we have not done a good job of that. We have barely kept up with inflation, even though we only serve about half of the eligible four-year olds.

 

“At other hearings, we have talked about the need for accountability in Head Start, and I think we need to hold ourselves accountable as well. Again, Mr. Chairman, I hope will be able to move forward together to reauthorize Head Start, and I look forward to hearing from our panel.

 

“Thank you.”