A Brookings Forum: 'Head Starts Future; Perspectives from the Bush Administration, Congress, States, Advocates, and Researchers' 5/6/2003
From: Brookings Office of Communications, 202-797-6105 or communications@brookings.edu News Advisory: WHAT: A Brookings Forum: 'Head Starts Future; Perspectives from the Bush Administration, Congress, States, Advocates, and Researchers' WHEN: Wednesday, May 7, 9 a.m. - Noon WHERE: Falk Auditorium The Brookings Institution 1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW Washington, DC -- This event will be audio-cast live from the Brookings website at http://www.brookings.edu. There will also be a transcript available on the website soon after the event. -- - Panel 1: Overview of Administration Plan and Reaction from Capitol Hill - MARGARET SPELLINGS Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, The White House REPRESENTATIVE MICHAEL N. CASTLE (R-DE) REPRESENTATIVE GEORGE MILLER (D-CA) - Panel 2: The Role of States and Communities - HELEN BLANK Consultant, Child Care Strategies HENRY L. JOHNSON Superintendent of Education, State of Mississippi RON HERNDON Director, Albina Head Start Program, Portland Oregon EDWARD ZIGLER Sterling Professor of Psychology, Yale University - Panel 3: What Does the Research Tell Us? - JAMES J. GALLAGHER Kenan Professor of Education, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill LYNN KAROLY Director of Labor and Population Program and Professor of Economics, RAND CRAIG T. RAMEY Distinguished Professor in Health Studies and Founding Director, Center for Research on Children in the United States, Georgetown University The Head Start program, established in 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson as part of his War on Poverty, is one of the nation's best known and most popular domestic programs. The program, which currently serves over 900,000 children and has a budget of nearly $7 billion, is up for reauthorization this year. Under current law, funds for Head Start go directly from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to local grantees, bypassing states. President Bush has proposed to give states the option of controlling Head Start funds and integrating the Head Start program with other preschool programs. In order to obtain control of Head Start funds, states would have to present a plan that, among other requirements, shows how they would prepare poor children to succeed in the public schools. On Wednesday, May 7, the Brookings Welfare Reform & Beyond Initiative will sponsor a public forum to discuss this proposal and its implications. The forum will bring together policymakers from the Bush administration and Capitol Hill with researchers and child advocates to consider the advantages and disadvantages of the Bush proposal and discuss the future of Head Start. RSVP: Please call the Brookings Office of Communications, 202/797-6105, or by email at communications@brookings.edu. http://www.brookings.edu |