George Bush's position on

Head Start: This program, created in 1965, delivers early education and support services to low-income children and their families. Head Start is currently financed by direct federal funding of local projects and is now coming under increased scrutiny because some believe it does an inadequate job of preparing children for school.

Description of candidate's position: The Bush Administration proposes a reauthorization of Head Start because of uneven quality among Head Start centers, the need to improve the quality of teachers, and the need for increased accountability for results and plans to turn control of the program over to state governments and allow them to integrate Head Start into their state plans for early care and education. To receive Head Start dollars, states would have to meet certain accountability requirements. States would have to submit plans to be approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Education. He wants states to guarantee the federal monies they receive are actually spent on Head Start. States must maintain their current level of spending on preschool programs. Link

Quotation from the candidate: "One, federal monies going to the states are used only for Head Start. In other words, what we really don't want to do is say we're going to focus on Head Start, the Head Start money goes for, you know, the prison complex… Secondly, states and local governments must put money into the programs, which would lock in the Head Start money for Head Start. So, the flexibility given to the State would not allow the state's budget flexibility." July 07, 2003, from the Bush website.

Assessment of the proposal: 

Positive: Michael Tanner, director of Health and Welfare Studies at the Cato Institute, supports this reauthorization and states that, "The problem is that a federal agency is trying to run a local preschool program, which results in an inefficient allocation of funds. (The people closest to the problem are best equipped to fix it, and handle the money to do so&emdash;not Washington.)"

Negative: Research done by the Brookings Institute notes that there is little evidence whether Bush's proposal will actually increase efficiency or whether states could improve Head Start. Many critics also believe that strengthening Head Start in this way will cost more money per child (the per-child cost of Head Start is now $7,000 per year).

Comparison: Bush and Kerry both agree that Head Start is a valuable educational program. Bush favors handing more control over to the state governments and requiring them to partially fund the program while adhering to strict guidelines approved by the Sec of Health & Human Services and the Sec of Education. Kerry supports increasing funding to the existing program.

Link to Kerry's issue page

Link to Kerry's Head Start page