"Children hold the key to America's future.  Because this bill will help more children arrive at school with the tools they need to succeed in the classroom, it is a wise investment," said Berry.

Key improvements accomplished by the Head Start Act include:

• Expands access - for as many as 10,000 additional children to enroll in the program.
• Prepares children for Head Start - allows programs to convert portions of their grant for Early Head Start, which serves children under the age of three.
• Improve Head Start’s workforce quality - increases funding for teacher and staff salaries and professional development; strengthens training and technical assistance; and provides funds to hire additional qualified staff.
• Strengthen school readiness - reevaluates and updates current standards and assessments based on the best science available; suspends and terminates the flawed National Reporting System; and improves professional development for supporting children's cognitive, social and emotional development.
• Increases accountability - devises a new system of application review that assesses program quality and leads to re-competition of low-quality centers; allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services to strip bad programs of funding; and improves the triennial review process.
• Boosts coordination - between Head Start and state and local child care programs to increase full-day and full-year services; improves linkage with Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, state health, mental health, and family services; and assists programs in aligning Head Start and state early learning standards.