Randall Cunningham: “as an original cosponsor of the Head Start Quality Improvement Act--H.R. 1528--introduced by Mr. Goodling, I am very…”

“as an original cosponsor of the Head Start Quality Improvement Act--H.R. 1528--introduced by Mr. Goodling, I am very happy to see many of those recommendations encompassed into this Head Start reauthorization. I am pleased to see an increase in the recognition of the crucial role parents play in the educational development of their children. This bill requires programs to actively seek parental participation, and while I would like to see even stronger language regarding parental involvement in Head Start programs, I think the language addressing family literacy and parental skills training takes the right direction. It is important to recognize and establish parents as their children's primary teacher. As you know, raising the quality of all Head Start Programs throughout the country has long been a concern, and I am pleased to see strengthened program accountability for providing high quality services included in this reauthorization. The key to a successful Head Start Program is ensuring quality over quantity. We should serve as many eligible children as possible with the highest quality services possible, instead of just striving to serve all eligible children with mediocre or poor services. The quality program improvement provisions will help ensure that quality services will be consistently provided by all Head Start Programs.”