The fact that President Bush spent parts of two days last week talking about early-childhood education spurred a collective 鈥渂ravo!鈥� from child-advocacy groups and lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
But when it came to the details鈥攁nd especially the lack of much extra money to match his plan鈥攖he response took on a fractured tone.
Mr. Bush, seeking to build on the success he found with the 鈥淣o Child Left Behind鈥� Act of 2001, announced several moves to bolster early education. He called for training all Head Start teachers in early-literacy instructional techniques and for accountability measures designed to ensure that Head Start centers meet learning standards established under federal law in 1998.
He also proposed a $45 million research effort over five years to identify effective early- literacy programs and teaching strategies. And he called for all states that receive money under federal child-care and welfare programs to set criteria on quality for early education.
鈥淥n the first day of school, children need to know letters and numbers,鈥� the president told an audience in the East Room of the White House. 鈥淭hey need a strong vocabulary. And they need to love books. These are the building blocks of learning, and this nation must provide them.鈥�
The April 3 gathering featured not only administration officials and the usual invited guests, but the celebrated children鈥檚 television personality Fred Rogers and the puppets Elmo and Zoe from 鈥淪esame Street.鈥�
Mr. Bush鈥檚 plans, which he first announced at a Pennsylvania appearance the day before, received a mixed reception in Congress.
鈥淚 commend the president for raising this issue, and I look forward to working with the administration in the days ahead,鈥� said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. But, Mr. Kennedy said, 鈥渨ithout new resources, this important initiative is a hollow gesture. It is wrong for the president to ask states to accept this great new responsibility within their existing budgets.鈥�
鈥淭o make a real difference for our youngest children,鈥� the senator added, 鈥渨e must add flesh to the bones of the president鈥檚 commitment.鈥�
An Alternative Plan
Mr. Kennedy last week unveiled the broad outlines of legislation he and Sen. George V. Voinovich, R-Ohio, intend to introduce this spring that would provide $1 billion per year in federal grants to states to improve early-childhood education. The incentive grants, a summary of the proposal says, would allow states to leverage existing federal, state, local, and private money to construct a 鈥渟eamless system.鈥�
Critics of Mr. Bush鈥檚 plan note he is offering little extra money.
Some of the largest federal programs supporting early care would see little or no additional money under Mr. Bush鈥檚 fiscal 2003 budget request, released in early February.
His 1.9 percent hike for Head Start would allow the program, at $6.7 billion, to maintain its current enrollment of 915,000 children. Mr. Bush proposed to freeze funding this year for the $4.8 billion child-care block grant, which provides child-care subsidies to low-income families.
Joan Lombardi, the director of the Children鈥檚 Project, a Washington- based advocacy group, said she was especially disappointed that the president鈥檚 plan does not contain measures to attract and retain high-quality staff members for early-learning programs.
鈥淭he most important issue we have in early childhood right now is that we don鈥檛 have a workforce that can deliver what we know young children deserve, and their plan does nothing to address that,鈥� said Ms. Lombardi, who served as a director of child care at the Department of Health and Human Services under President Clinton.
She said another major problem is that 鈥渇amilies can鈥檛 afford to pay for it. Their plan does nothing to address that.鈥�
Margaret Spellings, the president鈥檚 domestic-policy adviser, suggested that improvements don鈥檛 necessarily demand more funding.
鈥淚鈥檓 not sure it鈥檚 all about money,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about the kinds of activities that are going on.鈥�
Ms. Spellings also cautioned that the plan put forward last week does not reflect the totality of President Bush鈥檚 ideas for early-childhood education. Candidate Bush, for instance, had suggested in 2000 that the Department of Education take over administration of Head Start. But the White House made no mention of that last week.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one step,鈥� Ms. Spelling said of the initiative. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 an ongoing process; as the various relevant reauthorizations come before us, we鈥檒l want to inject some policy.鈥�
Some of the measures announced last week, including those for Head Start, do not require legislation.
Rep. John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, the chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, praised the initiative.
鈥淭he federal government currently spends about $14 billion every year to help young children receive care outside the home,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 needed is greater flexibility for states, more support for quality teachers, and greater accountability for results. ... [Mr. Bush鈥檚] early-childhood- education plan is built on those principles. 鈥�
But several children鈥檚 advocates said they found more encouragement in legislation Democrats have put forward in Congress.
For one, Rep. George Miller of California, the ranking Democrat on the House education committee, introduced a bill in December that seeks to expand the availability of high-quality, affordable child care for low- income families.
Among other elements, it would give states money to pay stipends to qualified child-care providers as an incentive to enhance training, reduce staff turnover, and attract and retain employees. It also would raise the authorization for child care with the goal of increasing the proportion of eligible families served under the Child Care and Development Block Grant program from only 12 percent today to over 30 percent within five years.
Reading Specialists
Daniel Weiss, a spokesman for Rep. Miller, argued that the Bush plan falls short not just on funding, but also on the policy front.
He pointed to Mr.Bush鈥檚 plan to train the nation鈥檚 estimated 50,000 Head Start teachers in early-literacy teaching techniques. The plan contemplates that 2,500 Head Start teachers will attend four-day regional training sessions this summer to become 鈥渆arly-literacy specialists.鈥� They would then return to their Head Start programs and train others.
鈥淭he idea that you would be able to create reading specialists among Head Start teachers with four days of training is absurd,鈥� Mr. Weiss said.
Mr. Bush has also sought to infuse accountability into the proposal. Some of that effort stems from requirements set four years ago, during the last rewrite of Head Start, the federal government鈥檚 flagship early-childhood program. The law requires Head Start programs to implement standards in early literacy, language, and numbers skills.
But the White House argues that those standards have yet to be effectively implemented.
The administration proposes to strengthen Head Start by ensuring programs are evaluated on whether they effectively prepare children to meet those standards, though administration officials emphasize that they are not talking about giving young children standardized tests.
鈥淲e want to say that, in return for federal taxpayers鈥� help, we expect you to be providing the foundation for reading and math,鈥� President Bush said last week.
The White House summary of Mr. Bush鈥檚 plan says that data from local providers on how they are meeting the standards would be used in evaluating contracts with Head Start providers.
Sarah M. Greene, the president and chief executive officer of the National Head Start Association, a Alexandria, Va.- based group, said her group would be opposed to terminating contracts based on academic outcomes.
鈥淭hat, to me, is punitive and very, very wrong,鈥� she said. 鈥淐hildren learn at all stages and in all ways. You can鈥檛 say the program or the teachers haven鈥檛 done a good job鈥� based on such evaluations.
Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services, which administers Head Start, sought to downplay the prospect of terminating contracts based on meeting the standards.
鈥淭he goal of the accountability system is to make sure that every child receives the best-quality Head Start possible,鈥� said one department official, who asked not to be named. 鈥淧rograms will have many opportunities to develop improvement plans. ... If years and years and years down the road, children are not progressing, there must be some consideration as to whether this program can provide the best-quality Head Start.鈥�
鈥淚 could see that, yes, termination could happen if literacy requirements weren鈥檛 met,鈥� added another department official. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 too soon to say how and if that would happen.鈥�
In an Internet bulletin last week, Chester E. Finn Jr., the president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation and a former assistant secretary of education under President Reagan, criticized members of what he calls the 鈥減reschool establishment,鈥� who he said resist strong accountability.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e content with hugs, snowsuits, blocks, swings, gerbils, carrot sticks, and dental visits,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淭hey shun responsibility for advancing a child鈥檚 cognitive development.鈥�
