Ron Kind: “the evidence of financial mismanagement is real, and I believe the committee has taken steps in this bill to try to…”

“the evidence of financial mismanagement is real, and I believe the committee has taken steps in this bill to try to address that, and this authorization bill goes a long way to do that. But as a member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, I have had the chance to visit all of my Head Start centers in western Wisconsin. You cannot help but walk away from that with an overwhelming feeling of pride and sense of security that those kids are receiving very professional, caring treatment in those Head Start centers. Head Start has been one of the most successful anti-poverty programs ever created. It is also the most poked, prodded, picked, analyzed, and surveyed program in the Federal Government; and for the last 40 years it has withstood the test of time. It consistently ranks at the top of participant satisfaction surveys compared to any other Federal program. I commend the leadership of the committee, the chairman, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner); and the subcommittee chairman, the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle); and the ranking members, the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller) and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey), for putting together a good bipartisan bill that we were able to report out 48 to zero in committee, because there is a right and a wrong way to reauthorize this important program.…”