Kildee’s Head Start Bill Signed into Law,

Washington, D.C. –  H.R. 1429, the Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act today was signed into law at a White House signing ceremony.  The bill, introduced by Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education Chairman Dale E. Kildee (D-MI), reauthorizes and expands the popular and effective Head Start program.  H.R. 1429 is a bipartisan bill that reauthorizes Head Start for the first time in nearly ten years.  Head Start is the country’s premiere early childhood education and development program and has served more than 20 million low-income children and their families since 1965.

This bipartisan legislation passed by a vote of 381-36 in the House and 95-0 in the Senate, and garnered the support of all but one Member of Michigan’s congressional delegation. 

The Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act:

• Improves Head Start’s workforce quality by ensuring that half of teachers nationwide will have a bachelor’s degree by 2013 and targeting new funding for teacher salaries and professional development;
• Strengthens the focus on school readiness by requiring the updating of current early learning standards based on the best available research and terminating the badly flawed National Reporting System;
• Prioritizes the expansion of Early Head Start services for infants and toddlers;
• Prioritizes the expansion of Indian and migrant and seasonal worker Head Start programs;
• Strengthens Comprehensive Services by emphasizing early identification of child and family mental health needs and directing families to appropriate services; and
• Maintains strong parental involvement in how Head Start programs are run.

Following are the remarks that Congressman Kildee delivered at today’s signing ceremony:

“I want to thank the President for his support of this important bill, and to thank Chairmen Miller and Kennedy, Senator Dodd, Ranking Members McKeon, Castle, Enzi and Alexander, and all the members of the conference committee for their hard work.

“I was honored to introduce this bill in the House in March with Chairman Miller, Governor Castle, and others.  And I was pleased that the House and Senate passed the conference report with overwhelming bipartisan support.

“Today is evidence that Washington works best when we work together.

“The more we learn about the role of stimulation and interaction in the actual physical development of children’s brains, the more we know that the comprehensive services Head Start and Early Head Start provide are critical to children’s ability to succeed in school and in life.

“Head Start has worked for 42 years, and now it will work even better.”