Thomas Mott Osborne: “as I have talked to my colleagues here in the House, I have been really surprised and somewhat dismayed at the amount of…”

“as I have talked to my colleagues here in the House, I have been really surprised and somewhat dismayed at the amount of misunderstanding and misinformation we have had regarding this particular bill. We have already heard some of those: We are going to dismantle Head Start. I do not think anybody on this side or the other side intends to dismantle Head Start. Everyone values Head Start. Head Start is not being transformed into a State-run program. It is not a block grant program. That is absolutely not true. So currently what we are talking about is the possibility of eight States entering a pilot program, if they so choose. Now, if all 50 States say we want to keep Head Start like it is, they can keep the program in all 50 States like it is. So the maximum would be eight States in a pilot program, 42 States in a similar program that we have had previously. So it is entirely voluntary. Pilot States must increase spending for early learning and not decrease it, so it does not take money from Head Start. I have often heard, as I talk to people around the floor here, Well, we are afraid that this is going to take money away from Head Start. This is not structured in this way. Actually, the State must increase its spending; no Head Start dollars will be transferred to the State. This will create a seamless, coordinated early learning program in pilot programs instead of a two-track system.”