Posted on: Thursday, April 17, 2003

EDITORIAL
Head Start must be kept vital, strong

Hawai'i Congressman Neil Abercrombie is right to raise warning flags about a Bush administration proposal to convert financing for the preschool Head Start program from direct funding into a more general "block grant" approach.

Under block-grant funding, an approach that has been popular with various presidents since at least the 1970s, states have much more autonomy to spend money under broad general categories. This eliminates micromanaging from Washington and gives states greater flexibility to respond to local needs.

So far, so good.

But it also means that states can shift money from one federal program to another, perhaps politically favored, effort.

That was the heart of Abercrombie's warning. Hawai'i today receives about $20 million a year to support some 2,400 primarily lower-income children in the Head Start program.

Abercrombie wants local supporters of the successful Head Start program to lobby Washington to abandon the block-grant idea. That is one approach.

But there is another.

It hardly matters if the money from Washington comes in block grants or in earmarked financing so long as local authorities have the political will to protect and support this important program.

And they should. There is more than ample evidence to show that students — particularly students from lower-income families — perform better and are more successful once they get into regular school if they have been exposed to Head Start. If anything, this program should be expanded.

And that's where the question of political will comes in.

Hawai'i needs and deserves a universal preschool system for all parents who want it. Head Start is a proven starting point.

Former Gov. Ben Cayetano proposed the next step toward universal preschool with a program he called "Pre-Plus," which would offer early childhood education to all needy or qualified children.

But as staff writer Catherine E. Toth recently reported, that program is off to a slower-than-expected start. Ten of 13 preschools designed for the Pre-Plus program have not yet opened. Officials say the delay is the result of construction problems and building inspection requirements that took longer than expected.

If that's the case, then we can expect these schools to eventually open, to be followed by many more until all children are served.

But if it becomes a question of political will — if there is a desire to spend money on other needs rather than on early childhood education — then Abercrombie is right to call for a staunch defense of what we already have with Head Start.

What must come now is a clear statement of policy and intent by local leaders that the Pre-Plus effort will be allowed to reach its full potential and that Head Start will not suffer any loss of support along the way.