Head Start Proposal Aims to Turn Up Heat on Lagging Programs

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Head Start Proposal Aims to Turn Up Heat on Lagging Programs
by Christine A. Samuels

In one of the biggest changes to Head Start in its 45-year history, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced proposed rules that would force low-performing programs to compete for their federal funding.

About 1,600 Head Start grantees around the country run programs for low-income preschool children, at a cost of about $7.2 billion annually. At least a quarter of the grantees being evaluated in any given year—those falling below a certain performance threshold—would be required under the new rule to "recompete" for their grants against other interested entities in the community.

The 25 percent requirement would go beyond a recommendation from a federal advisory committee that 15 to 20 percent of grantees be required to recompete in any given year. But government officials said that the 25 percent number sends a message that Head Start will only support high-quality programs. The recompetition requirement would also apply to Early Head Start, which serves pregnant women, infants, and toddlers.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/10/06/06headstart.h30.html?tkn=NXRFlVyBe1V8fyaqmx7DeYNjTY%2F0QOdBjwA1&cmp=clp-edweek