U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor today distributed books to Head Start students at the West Tampa Head Start Center to celebrate the great success of Head Start over the past four decades and pledge support for the congressional vote this week to strengthen our commitment. Head Start is a holistic approach to preparing children for success by providing a high quality early education program that supports children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development. 
  
    “Head Start is the premiere early education program in America. It has played an important role in improving the lives of more than 20 million children and thousands of families in my community,” said Castor. “To narrow the achievement gap that exists today between low-income children and their more affluent peers, we must improve Head Start’s effectiveness, support teachers, and increase enrollment.” 
  
    Over 5,300 children are served by Head Start in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Manatee Counties, but many thousands more are on waiting lists or eligible. With no increase in funding since 2003 and inflation going up, it is getting harder for Head Start providers to maintain their well-known high quality services. 
  
    Last year Castor persuaded county commissioners to provide funds to reduce the long waiting list in Hillsborough County and make up for the money that the federal government was not providing. Louis Finney, director of Hillsborough County’s Head Start Division, said that being flat funded has had a big impact. “Our expenses have grown 10 percent, and we are now serving more kids,” Finney said. “Also, we have 3,000 kids in Head Start but only 103 in Early Head Start. We are not capturing the young mothers like we would like. And the income requirements are still too high. Some parents cannot enroll because they make $18,000 for a family of two, and the required income is $15,000.” 
  
    In Florida, there are over one million children under the age of 5. Head Start serves approximately 40,000 of them every year. These children come from low-income families and qualify at the poverty level. The bill raises that level to 130 percent to help more families get access to high quality early care and education for their children. 
  
    This week the House of Representatives will consider and likely pass H.R. 1429, the Head Start Improvement Act of 2007. Castor will play an instrumental role in managing floor debate on Wednesday as a member of the Rules Committee.
 
The bill will:
 
·        Improve teacher and classroom quality;
·        Strengthen the focus on school readiness;
·        Expand access;
·        Increase accountability;
·        Boost coordination;
·        Strengthen comprehensive services;
·        Increase the Early Head Start funding.
·        Expand the reach of the program by allowing homeless children to enroll; and
·        Put more emphasis on meeting the needs of children and families with limited English proficiency. 
  
    “Enrolling non-English speaking children and the homeless is specifically important in my diverse district,” said Castor. “We need to raise strong and healthy children. Head Start prepares children to succeed in school and life. The Bush administration slow-motion cuts of Head Start over past years will now be reversed. The American people stood up in November and asked for change. Today, I am standing up for them.” 
  
    Delia Sanchez was one of the pioneers in the Tampa Bay area, helping thousands of children and families get a better education through the Head Start program. “This is a comprehensive program that touches education but also health care and parent involvement,” said Sanchez. “This program attacks all problems a child may have. A healthy child can learn better.” 
  
    Hillsborough County has a strong legacy in Head Start. Sam Gibbons from Tampa has a long history of shepherding domestic programs through the U.S. House of Representatives. In the 1960's, President Johnson entrusted Gibbons to manage on the House floor much of his Great Society Program, which included the very successful Head Start and Job Corps Programs.