By Staff
May 25, 2003
A GOP-led effort to revamp the national Head Start program includes a key provision requiring half of all Head Start teachers to hold bachelor's degrees by 2008. That one element of such comprehensive legislation has the potential to dramatically improve the quality of Head Start for low-income children and represents a milestone in Head Start improvement efforts.
Boehner and his colleagues are onto something important here, all under the fundamental goal of boosting the school readiness levels of hundreds of thousands Head Start children. For example, under the bill, 60 percent of all new Head Start funds must go toward quality initiatives, including formal education, training and teacher salaries.
It is time to inject a new element of accountability into Head Start, just as new accountability standards have been injected into public education.