Senate panel hears Head Start debate (Rep still do not have votes)

[Nambe]

The Washington Times (rag)

The successes and failures of the venerable Head Start program were laid out yesterday before a Senate committee while House Republicans lobbied colleagues to ensure a vote for their reform bill, which could come as soon as tomorrow.

A House vote on a Head Start reform bill is likely this week, Rep. John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican and chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, told reporters yesterday.

Asked if there were enough votes to pass the School Readiness Act, he said: "No. But we're working."

Republicans are fighting Head Start's institutional backers, who are working to scuttle parts of the reauthorization, he said. "They are a very potent political force and they've been at it now for about six months."

At issue is a section in the bill to allow up to eight states the power to integrate Head Start with their pre-existing early education network. That has never been done in Head Start history — the 38-year-old War on Poverty measure has always been a federal-to-local program. ---


Click to enter, and they will help you write your Reps. Please Help.