WASHINGTON, D.C. – Teachers, parents, and children at the J.C. Washington Center Head Start program in Santa Maria cele-brated good news from Congress on Nov. 28 with U.S. Rep. Lois Capps, D-Calif., whose district includes Santa Barbara County.

New legislation supported by Capps promises to open up the popular free pre-school program to more families by raising the income eligibility guidelines. The Santa Maria Head Start program also might benefit from a promised increase in funding that would allow the purchase of a new facility.

Congress in November approved reauthorization of The Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007, and with it $7 billion in funding. The bill now is awaiting the president's signature.

"We're so excited," said Fran Forman, executive director of the Community Action Commission of Santa Barbara County. "There are so many families in this community that need our help, but miss the income requirement by just a few hundred dollars," Forman said.

The bill would allow Head Start programs across the country to assist thousands more low-income families. The act also provides more funds to improve program facilities, and to increase teacher salaries.
The bipartisan bill, which was approved by the House and the Senate, increases access to Head Start by broadening income-eligibility requirements for families with incomes that are up to 130 percent above the federal poverty level.

The federal poverty level for a family of four is now $20,600. The new legislation would raise that income eligibility cut-off to $26,800 to allow more families to participate in the program.

"Head Start is one of my favorite programs because it really focuses on the children and their communities," Capps said at the J.C. Washington center. She joined representatives from the local Head Start program, the Community Action Commission, and First 5 of Santa Barbara County to discuss next steps, now that new funding is pending.

"When I have a bad day in Washington I just tell myself, well, we've funded Head Start, and I'm really proud of that," Capps said.
Forman said the extra grant money that would be dispersed to programs around the country when the bill is signed into law could be used in Santa Maria to build a new center.

"Right now, we're in churches and portables, and although we're very grateful to our landlords, we would like to be more permanent," Forman said. "This community really needs us here."

Created in 1965, Head Start is a federally funded program that provides educational and other services to economically disadvantaged children from birth through age 5, and also to their families. Although best known for giving children a head start on school through pre-school classes, the programs also offer nutritious meals, medical and dental screenings for participating children, and educational classes for parents.

The J.C. Washington Center, located at 116 W. Agnes Ave., is home to just one of Santa Barbara County's 36 Head Start programs, which are all overseen by the Community Action Commission. The local nonprofit provides full- and half-day child educational services to approximately 1,100 families through the Head Start and Early Head Start programs.

"Our goal is not just to serve the child, but the family as a whole. We want to help the children and their parents become more self-sufficient," Head Start supervisor Cassandra Hart said. Hart said there also are Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs, which provides similar care to families working in agriculture. However, these programs are run by the Economic Opportunity Commission and are based out of elementary schools in the community.

Capps and Head Start employees also expressed their approval of Congress's decision to terminate the National Reporting System, a controversial assessment test given to all 4- and 5-year-olds in the Head Start Program. The test was designed to determine a child's proficiency in vocabulary, letter recognition, and early mathematics. However, a 2005 report by the Government Accountability Office, Congress's investigative arm, questioned the test's effectiveness.

"We've repealed that 'one-size-fits-all' mentality," Capps said.
Leaders from all three educational programs voiced their concerns over the measure's call for half of all the nation's Head Start teachers to hold bachelor's degrees by 2013.

"The cost [of getting a bachelor's degree] is definitely an issue in Santa Barbara County," said Michelle Robertson, who is the school readiness coordinator for First 5 of Santa Barbara County. "We want early childhood providers already in the field to be able to keep their jobs," she said. Robertson said that limited access to affordable colleges with child development programs makes earning a bachelor's degree difficult for many teachers involved with First 5 and Head Start.
Currently, several teachers from both programs are enrolled in classes at University of La Verne and Chapman University, which are located in Southern California.

However, representatives from both programs said that they often have trouble retaining teachers with bachelor's degrees because of low salaries.

"Our salaries need to get more competitive because many teachers leave preschool for [higher paying] positions once they get their bachelor's degrees," Robertson said.

Still, Forman of the Community Action Commission said that while it is important for Head Start teachers to be well qualified, the program should keep doors open for people from all different backgrounds.

"One of the beauties of our program is that we offer so many different opportunities and forms of education," she said. "But as the nature of the workforce changes, it's possible that we'll become so professionalized that we'll miss out on a lot of talented people," Foreman said.

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