Lynn C. Woolsey: “It was a hearing with Dr. Ed Ziegler, the father of Head Start, that started me on the road to preparing children for…”

“It was a hearing with Dr. Ed Ziegler, the father of Head Start, that started me on the road to preparing children for school, even though I know my major effort is that all children have the best education in the world, but getting them ready for this education. We had a child care hearing and, of course, he was there to talk about the successes and some of the learning experiences of Head Start. Dr. Ziegler said, before we even started, "I have learned that no matter how good we make Head Start, if we don't take care of our children and have parents involved with them the first, from zero to 3 years old, the best Head Start programs in the world will have less of a chance of success." When I talk about universal preschool, I use Head Start as my model. So the gentleman is right. We have to make that available, on a voluntary basis. We do not want to force people to send their children to preschool if they can keep them home and want to.”