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Young: Head Start dissidents


JOHN YOUNG, Opinion page editor
White House will hear nothing counter to its pre-K designs

First he had to subdue Afghanistan. Then he had to subdue Iraq. Now President Bush may need troops to subdue prekindergarten teachers.

It's no fun being an occupation force.

Few Americans have heard of the tempest brewing over the future of Head Start. If the administration has its way, that's the way it will remain.

Educators across the country are voicing alarm over an administration plan to effectively convert Head Start from a federal program to one run by states through block grants.

Opponents see this as the end of Head Start. Principally, they worry that states, facing immense fiscal pressures, are not good candidates for entrusting the highly successful pre-kindergarten program.

And though an administration official has threatened Head Start professionals with sanctions for complaining in this fashion, it's clear the critics will not shut up.

The threat came in a letter from Windy M. Hill, associate commissioner of the Head Start Bureau. She said that those who speak out against the block-grant plan could be cited under the Hatch Act, which restricts political activities by civil servants.

Political activities? Well, everything is political when it comes to government. But we're talking about public policy.

Imagine, someone telling child development professionals they can't talk about child development. We exported free speech to Iraq and imported tyranny to the Department of Health and Human Services.

----Changing the equation----

This week in New York at the National Head Start Association's annual conference, Edward Zigler, known as the father of Head Start for his role on its original formulation, called the administration's plan "ill conceived and unjustified."

Zigler said that waiving federal standards in awarding block grants to states would be an "astonishing approach of stewardship of federal tax dollars."

Legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. Mike Castle, R-Dela., would open the door to that with a pilot project allowing states to request Head Start funding block grants.

Some will wonder what has possessed Bush and Co. to want to fundamentally alter a program that has had broad-based support and has withstood the test of time over 38 years.

The short answer is: Because they can.

The long answer is: Head Start is a remnant of the Great Society programs that, whether successful or not, are history in the eyes of controlling conservatives.

In addition, there's a philosophical argument that has been played out relative to Head Start under Bush. The administration wants it to be more of a literacy and basics-skills program and less of a socialization program with literacy as a key. Built into this is the corporate-tinged cult of "accountability," that we can't have education we can't test, even if the child is 3.

Last year some Head Start professionals boycotted an administration-run training initiative aimed at changing the focus of these preschools. It appears that, like entrepreneurs who'd won a government contract, the folks who run the Head Start Bureau now have "the answer" to preschool literacy and expect everyone to buy in. It is akin to true believers who think the Texas accountability system is "the answer" to K-12.

Believing doesn't make it so.

Now these same administration control freaks are saying that block grants with no federal standards are the way to go. Talk about a mixed message. Does the administration want to be in or out of making Head Start the best it can be?

As for the Head Start dissidents, you buck the educator-in-chief at your own risk.

John Young's column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. E-mail: jyoung@wacotrib.com.