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89–672 PDF 2004

S. HRG. 108–345

REAUTHORIZATION OF THE HEAD START

PROGRAM

HEARING

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS

UNITED STATES SENATE

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

ON

THE REAUTHORIZATION OF THE HEAD START PROGRAM SERVING

INDIAN COUNTRY

SEPTEMBER 25, 2003

WASHINGTON, DC

(
COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS

BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado, Chairman

DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii, Vice Chairman

JOHN McCAIN, Arizona,

PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico

CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming

ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah

JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma

GORDON SMITH, Oregon

LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska

KENT CONRAD, North Dakota

HARRY REID, Nevada

DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii

BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota

TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington

PAUL MOOREHEAD, Majority Staff Director/Chief Counsel

PATRICIA M. ZELL, Minority Staff Director/Chief Counsel

(II)
(III)

C O N T E N T S

Page

Statements:

Belleau, Ann, National Indian Head Start Directors Association, board

member and director, Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan Inc. Head Start/

Early Start, Sault Ste. Marie, MI ................................................................ 18

Gomez, Henrietta, Immersion Instructor, Taos Pueblo Head Start program, Taos, NM ............................................................................................ 9

Guillory, Consuelo, National Indian Head Start Directors Association,

board member and director, Nez Perce Tribe Head Start program,

Lapwai, ID ..................................................................................................... 12

Hill, Windy M., associate commissioner, Head Start Bureau, Administration for children and Families, Department of Health and Human

Services, Washington, DC ............................................................................ 1

Inouye, Hon. Daniel K., U.S. Senator from Hawaii, vice chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs ............................................................................... 1

Laughter, Roy, Navajo Nation Government Services Committee, Navajo

Nation, Phoenix, AZ ...................................................................................... 22

Morgan, Lee, contract compliance officer, Navajo Nation, Phoenix, AZ ...... 24

Sanchez, Gilbert, executive director, Department of Education, Pueblo

of Laguna, NM .............................................................................................. 18

Turney, Lee, National Indian Head Start Directors Association, board

member and director, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Head Start program,

Cass Lake MN ............................................................................................... 16

Verdugo, Mavany, president, National Indian Head Start Directors Association, Valley Center, CA ............................................................................ 6

APPENDIX

Prepared statements:

Belleau, Ann ..................................................................................................... 32

Goetz, Meg, director, Congressional Relations, American Indian Higher

Education Consortium .................................................................................. 36

Gomez, Henrietta (with attachment) .............................................................. 40

Guillory, Consuelo (with attachment) ............................................................. 49

Hill, Windy M. .................................................................................................. 27

Laughter, Roy (with attachment) .................................................................... 82

Turney, Lee (with attachment) ........................................................................ 94

Sanchez, Gilbert ............................................................................................... 101

Verdugo, Mavany (with attachment) .............................................................. 110

(1)

REAUTHORIZATION OF THE HEAD START

PROGRAM

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2003

U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS, Washington, DC.

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in room 562,

Dirksen Senate Building, Hon. Daniel K. Inouye (vice chairman of

the committee) presiding.

Present: Senator Inouye.

STATEMENT OF HON. DANIEL K. INOUYE, U.S. SENATOR FROM

HAWAII, VICE CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS

Senator INOUYE. The Committee on Indian Affairs meets this

morning to receive testimony on the reauthorization of the Head

Start program and particularly the programs that serve Indian

country.

For millions of children nationwide, the Head Start program has

proven to be one of the most beneficial aspects of their beginnings

of life. For the children of Indian country and their parents, the

Head Start program may well make a critical difference throughout

their entire lives.

So it is important that the Head Start program have the flexibility to address the unique needs in Indian country, including the

ability to allow instruction in the child’s native language.

We have witnesses today who are the experts in Indian Head

Start programs. So, without further ado, I will call upon the first

panel. We have on the first panel the associate commissioner of the

Head Start Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services, Windy Hill.

STATEMENT OF WINDY M. HILL, ASSOCIATE COMMISSIONER,

HEAD START BUREAU, ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN

AND FAMILIES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN

SERVICES, WASHINGTON, DC

Ms. HILL. Good morning, Mr. Chairman.

Senator INOUYE. Please proceed. Welcome.

Ms. HILL. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I appreciate this opportunity to testify before you today on the President’s

plan to strengthen Head Start, including those programs serving

American Indian and Alaska Native children and families. I am

here not only as the Associate Commissioner of Head Start, but
2

also as a former Head Start child and the mother of a Head Start

child who is now an accomplished high school student.

I would like to focus my time today on the President’s goals for

improving Head Start. I also want to share some highlights and insights into Head Start services and operations within American Indian and Alaska Native programs, AIAN Head Start, that I know

are of special interest to this committee.

Let me say at the outset that the President remains committed

to maintaining the current Federal-to-local relationship with AIAN

Head Start programs and working with these programs to address

the unique challenges they face.

As you know, Head Start was launched in 1965 as part of a bold,

big idea that children should not be disadvantaged in their education because of the circumstances of their families. However, recent research shows that, although Head Start children make

progress in areas of school readiness during the Head Start year,

they continue to lag behind their more economically-advantaged

peers. Consequently, the President and Secretary Thompson sent

the Head Start Bureau a clear message: More needs to be done to

strengthen the educational outcomes for children.

As part of the President’s ‘‘Good Start, Grow Smart Initiative,’’

we were directed to increase the knowledge and skills of Head

Start teachers in the areas of pre-school language and literacy and

to create and maintain a national reporting system that will help

measure children’s progress in mastering the skills necessary to

enter school ready to learn.

In response, the Head Start Bureau has already undertaken a

number of efforts aimed at bolstering the school readiness of Head

Start children, and representatives from AIAN programs have been

part of this effort.

The administration’s efforts to improve the quality of Head Start

services for all children continue with the President’s proposal for

reauthorization of Head Start. Let me be clear that the President

is not proposing to block grant Head Start funding to States. The

President’s proposal does not allow States who may qualify for participation in a State option to do away with the comprehensive

services currently available through Head Start and makes clear

that the Federal Government will not cease or relinquish its oversight responsibility for the Head Start program.

Under the President’s proposal, AIAN Head Start programs will

continue to be funded directly by the Federal Government. Governed by relevant laws and regulations, each tribe will design a

program that works, one that is sensitive to the culture and history

of the families, one that respects the rich traditions of the tribe,

and that recognizes the uniqueness of language and customs.

The Head Start program has provided Head Start services to Indian tribes since 1965, when the Department funded 43 grantees

in 14 States. We are currently funding 165 grantees in 26 States

to provide Head Start services to 23,837 children, 2,532 of whom

are served in our early Head Start program. There are 5,587 staff

working in AIAN Head Start programs, 80 percent of whom are

Native Americans.

In fiscal year 2004 there will be increased efforts made to assure

that Head Start programs are achieving their primary purpose of
3

promoting school readiness, that all children, including all American Indian and Alaska Native children, leave Head Start with the

cognitive, emotional, and social skills they will need to be successful in school.

We have tried to respond to several unique needs by making

available funding that permits Indian programs to reach all, or a

substantial part, of their Head Start-eligible families. Over the past

several years we have worked in partnership with the Indian

Health Service, IHS agency, addressing the many health and safety

concerns of Head Start programs, concerns that are often exacerbated by environmental factors beyond the control of a local Head

Start program or the community in which the program is located.

In partnership with the IHS, we are currently finalizing a report

to Congress on the overall status and condition of facilities occupied by AIAN Head Start programs. My formal statement provides

some of the overall findings. We have invested over $25 million in the last three years for renovations and construction to improve classroom and playground, as

well as work and meeting space, for AIAN Head Start programs.

We are also investing in new Head Start buses for AIAN programs

at a rate that is twice the national average.

We share these investments with you not to say that our job is

complete, but to acknowledge our awareness and intent to address

the needs of AIAN Head Start. We are committed to doing that.

We look forward to working with this committee and with the

Congress to continue to address these and other challenges. Together we must do all we can to bring to fruition the goals and

dreams of our Nation’s ‘‘first family.’’

Thank you, and I will be happy to answer any questions you may

have.

[Prepared statement of Ms. Hill appears in appendix.]

Senator INOUYE. All right, thank you very much, Ms. Hill.

I gather that the administration is proposing to create and manage a national reporting system, and I am just wondering what

sort of testing tools are you going to have and, if so, are they culturally-sensitive or are they strictly for those who speak English?

Ms. HILL. We have begun this process of developing the national

reporting system with a great awareness that in some parts of our

country there are multiple languages in our Head Start classrooms,

as many as 50 to 58 different languages. We know that the national reporting system will give us for the first time the ability to

assess the cognitive development of children, much like we assess

whether or not children have immunizations and whether parents

are receiving the supportive services that they need.

We approach this with a real sense that it will take time to develop and implement a system that is responsive to all of the children in the program, but that we must start somewhere. So we

have begun the process focusing primarily on children whose primary language is English or Spanish, recognizing that in the process of assessing skills or English, children who have not acquired

English will not be assessed by an English assessment tool. It

means that over time we will move to multiple languages, but at

this point we are only capable of assessing children with those languages.
4

Senator INOUYE. In the meantime, those children who cannot be

appropriately tested may have to suffer the consequences?

Ms. HILL. No; absolutely not. Head Start is designed to address

the individual needs of all children. The national reporting system

gives us the ability to look across the country nationally and see

how well programs are doing in meeting the cognitive needs of children, but at the same time local programs still maintain that responsibility to plan their program services around the individual

needs of children.

It means that children are assessed at three points in time in

every program. They look at the beginning of the year to identify

how and what services might need to be provided, including those

that relate to the development of a child. They look again about

mid-year to see how well they are doing and make whatever corrective modifications are necessary. Then at the end of the year they

do a final assessment to see how well they achieved service delivery for every children. So no child will suffer because the national

reporting system cannot assess in all languages.

Senator INOUYE. So your reporting programs will accommodate

the language immersion Head Start programs?

Ms. HILL. Absolutely.

Senator INOUYE. How does the administration plan to further the

acquisition, retention, and preservation of Native languages

through the Head Start program, or do you have any policy on

that?

Ms. HILL. Well, as you know, the Head Start program values,

has a long history since its inception of valuing the culture and

languages of the children which we serve. We know that we are

serving children in south Texas whose primary language may be

Spanish, children who are in Alaska whose native culture is

Inupiat or Tlingit tribes, and that that is part of the Head Start

experience and figuring out how to do it. So we do that very well,

and we will continue to do that.

The Department of Health and Human Services, through its

ANA, Administration for Native American programs, makes available opportunities to support the immersion of language not only

in Head Start, but also throughout tribal programs and other opportunities.

We also have local programs who have done an excellent job of

creating within their local infrastructure the support for the preservation of Native languages.

Senator INOUYE. As you may be aware, I represent a State of

many islands. As a result, there are big islands and small islands.

On some of the islands, it is hard to believe this, but there are no

escalators, no elevators, no shopping malls. In fact, there are no

huge-screen theaters.

To take these children from one island to another, there is an additional cost of transportation. In the same way, there are many

reservations that are hundreds of miles away from centers of activity.

Is your program making accommodations for additional transportation costs?

Ms. HILL. We have begun our process, and it is an ongoing process. As I mentioned in my short statement, the rate of investment
5

in buses alone is twice the national average in Head Start, recognizing that many children are being transported over unpaved

roads. We want them to be transported in a fashion that is as safe

as possible, and the National Transportation Safety Board is giving

us guidance on what that type of transportation should look like.

So we continue, through quality improvement funds and onetime funding opportunities, to provide local programs with the opportunity to apply for those funds, and as they are available, make

those funds available in developing transportation systems that are

safe for children.

Senator INOUYE. The funds are finally available?

Ms. HILL. The funds have always been available in that one-time

funds are available at the end of each year. These are funds that,

for example, in the implementation of a program, if the program

starts late and dollars are unused, we use those funds to support

broader needs such as the transportation needs. So those funds

continue to be available on an annual basis.

In addition to that, there is ongoing quality improvement funds.

Now from 1999 to about 2001, there was about $80 million that

went into the base of Head Start program funding to address quality improvement needs, and transportation would certainly be an

area in which programs had an opportunity to use those dollars to

support those needs.

Senator INOUYE. The Congress has requested the Department to

submit a report on the progress being made in Indian and Alaskan

villages. Do you have the report?

Ms. HILL. The report is in the final stages of being complete and

submitted through the clearance process for submission to Congress. In my long statement we did extract some findings of that

report to share with the committee in anticipation of its release

here.

Senator INOUYE. When do you anticipate completion of the report?

Ms. HILL. I believe the report will be due and submitted the latter part of this year.

Senator INOUYE. So the committee will get a copy?

Ms. HILL. Yes, sir.

Senator INOUYE. Thank you.

There is also a requirement of consultation. What is the nature

of consultation you have with Indian tribes?

Ms. HILL. Well, as you know, the Department and the Secretary

have revitalized a couple of interagency advisory groups and councils for that specific purpose.

Commissioner Quanah Stamps, who heads up the Administration

for Native American, ANA, Department, is the chair of that committee. Consultations for this year are being planned for December.

In addition to that, our assistant secretary, Dr. Wade Horn,

serves on the executive committee, advisory committee, and we are

looking forward to the opportunity, to those consultations this year.

In the interim, because we share one Department through our

weekly and monthly staff meetings convened by our assistant secretary, we have the opportunity to have frequent dialogue across

programs about services, and we use that also as a vehicle, in addition to required reporting.
6

Senator INOUYE. And you are satisfied with the progress being

made?

Ms. HILL. I am satisfied that we are all extremely committed to

ensuring that that communication is effective and that it yields

outcomes, better outcomes, for the children and families served by

those programs.

Senator INOUYE. Ms. Hill, I thank you very much.

Ms. HILL. Thank you.

Senator INOUYE. I think you are doing a good job.

Ms. HILL. Thank you.

Senator INOUYE. In our next panel: the president of the National

Indian Head Start Directors Association of California, Mavany

Verdugo; the immersion instructor of the Taos Pueblo Head Start

program of New Mexico, Henrietta Gomez; the National Head Start

Directors Association board member and director of the Nez Perce

Tribe Head Start program, Consuelo Guillory.

Ladies, welcome, and may I call on Ms. Verdugo first.

STATEMENT OF MAVANY VERDUGO, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL

INDIAN HEAD START DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION, VALLEY

CENTER, CA, ACCOMPANIED BY HENRIETTA GOMEZ, IMMERSION INSTRUCTOR, TAOS PUEBLO HEAD START PROGRAM,

TAOS, NM; AND CONSUELO GUILLORY, NATIONAL INDIAN

HEAD START DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION, BOARD MEMBER

AND DIRECTOR, NEZ PERCE TRIBE HEAD START PROGRAM,

LAPWAI, ID

Ms. VERDUGO. Thank you. Vice Chairman Inouye and members

of the committee, thank you for this opportunity to submit testimony on behalf of the National Indian Head Start Directors Association with regard to reauthorization of Head Start.

We want to remember that in 1994 Senator Inouye was the firstever-awarded our association’s Child Advocate of the Year, and we

just want to thank you for continuing to support our children.

This testimony is about the miracle of Indian Head Start. Head

Start is one of the truly great Federal success stories in Indian

country. We urge the committee to support expansion of Head

Start and not its reorganization.

In the week prior to this hearing, our association sent out a brief

e-mail asking programs to respond to the specific challenges that

they face or obstacles that they have overcome in their work and

things that would be just unique to Indian Head Start. We were

really overwhelmed with the response. These testimonies and stories are attached, and we would really encourage you to read them.

Our role as the National Indian Head Start Directors Association

is as a national voice for our members in the United States. We

have roughly 95 percent of all of the Indian programs as members,

and we keep in communication.

Some of our statistics: Of the 575 federally-recognized tribes, 216

participate in Head Start and Early Head Start. That is a funded

enrollment of approximately 24,000 children. This number represents 2.9 percent of the total number of children nationwide

served by Head Start. These programs employ approximately 6,000

individuals, and one-half of them are employees that are current or

former Head Start parents, like myself.
7

Among the recommended improvements to the Head Start Act

are increasing the setaside for Indian Head Start. Currently, Indian Head Start programs receive a 2.9 percent set-aside of Head

Start funds. This is really not sufficient to address the extraordinary range of unique challenges faced by tribes through the

United States. This just supports a statutorily-mandated increase

in the setaside for Indian Head Start to 4 percent.

Other specific funding needs are:

Increased funding for transportation services. Head Start funding for transportation does not adequately consider the geographic

isolation of many rural tribal communities, and you will read about

this in some of the stories that were submitted.

Increased funding to support effective professional development;

increased funding for training and technical assistance. Currently,

there is a 2 percent setaside for training and technical assistance.

We support a 3-percent set-aside for T&TA

Tribal programs should continue to receive their own T&TA dollars with the additional funds awarded to a national technical and

training assistance system to support continued networking and

development across all tribal grantees.

We ask for increased funding for upgrading Head Start facilities

to maintain quality standards. There is a great need for the renovation of existing facilities as well as a need for the construction

of new facilities. Again, you will see this demonstrated in the stories.

Expansion of Early Head Start programs, including an Early

Head Start Indian set-aside—Ann Belleau will be giving you a

more detailed story about this in her testimony.

Flexibility in eligibility criteria. NIHSDA recommends that tribes

be given greater flexibility to establish the criteria for eligibility in

their Indian Head Start programs. This is not an effort to provide

universal coverage, but is intended to ensure that each tribe can

tailor its program to the unique cultural and economic circumstances of its community. Currently, there is no preference language for serving Indian children and eligibility requirements are

unreasonably low and inconsistent with other Federal programs.

We are asking for maintenance of a separate Indian Head Start

region within the Head Start Bureau. We request that the Head

Start Act specifically provide for a separate region for Indian Head

Start. We support the continued separate provision of technical assistance for Indian Head Start.

State and local programs do not have the capacity to develop and

support this expertise. The American Indian/Alaska Native Program Branch has also developed knowledge and experience which

enables it to respond more effectively to tribal programs, as well

as to explain, advocate, and articulate the issues within the Federal Government.

Formal consultation requirements for the Department of Health

and Human Services: Tribal Head Start consultations must provide

tribes and tribal Head Start grantees a forum that will allow greater opportunity for significant participation in the administration

and operation of Head Start programs and greater opportunity to

express their issues and concerns with existing or developing Fed-
8

eral policies, regulations, and other related directives that affect

services in tribal communities.

Enhanced but flexible degree requirements for staff with expanded distance learning opportunities, Connie is going to expound

on this in her testimony.

Culturally- and linguistically-appropriate testing: While the goals

of the national reporting system are laudable, to measure children’s

language and literacy skills in order to track child outcomes and

progress in educational achievement, culturally-skewed assessments will hurt both schools and children.

Preservation of language and promotion of culturally-relevant

programs and research, Henrietta Gomez will be speaking about

that in her testimony.

Greater flexibility in cost sharing: Tribal communities affirm

their responsibility to provide a share of in-kind or cash-match to

support Head Start programs. However, it is a constant challenge

for impoverished tribes with a small volunteer pool, limited thirdparty in-kind contributions, and their remote locations and lowvalue facilities to meet the cost-sharing requirements of the law.

Undertaking of culturally-appropriate relevant research and

evaluation, this will be covered by Lee Turney in his testimony.

So, in conclusion, on behalf of the National Indian Head Start Directors Association, I would like to thank the committee for holding

this hearing and listening to the views expressed today. Again, I

would like to encourage you to read the stories from our programs

that are out there on the front, because they are very compelling,

to let you see the uniqueness of our Indian programs. Thank you.

[Prepared statement of Ms. Verdugo appears in appendix.]

Senator INOUYE. First, may I assure you that we will read those

stories.

You have suggested that the Head Start program be increased.

For example, at this moment you are receiving about 3-percent of

the Head Start funds. You are suggesting it be raised to 4. How

many more children will that accommodate?

Ms. VERDUGO. I would like to get back to you with an exact number of how that would affect, but we do have many children who

are unserved in our communities. This would enable us to get out

and reach unserved communities.

Senator INOUYE. You are also suggesting that families that qualify under WIC be permitted to send their children. How many more

children would that add to the program?

Ms. VERDUGO. Again, I would have to get back to you on an exact

number, but I would say that USDA has proposed rules to go from

125 to 185 percent in their eligibility criteria. If we were able to

adopt that, it would be a uniform eligibility criteria for Federal programs, and it would help a lot of families that just barely go over

that eligibility criteria, because TANF is working, and they are

going out to work, but they lament that it was much easier when

they were on TANF to be able to qualify for things. So it is not that

they are exceeding the limit in a large way.

Senator INOUYE. With your background and experience, are you

satisfied that the program has had some good results?

Ms. VERDUGO. Absolutely. I can speak personally as to how Head

Start has helped me and my family, and you will see it in stories.
9

It helps children as we follow them, as they transition into school,

in a broad area of ways. We are really increasing their academic

success. You will see that in the other testimony that comes

through. We can firmly stand behind the program.

Senator INOUYE. Thank you very much.

Ms. VERDUGO. Yes.

Senator INOUYE. Ms. Gomez.

STATEMENT OF HENRIETTA GOMEZ, IMMERSION INSTRUCTOR, TAOS PUEBLO HEAD START PROGRAM, TAOS, NM

Ms. GOMEZ. [Speaks briefly in Native language.]

Iloculi is my Tiwa name given to me by my paternal grandfather.

Henrietta Gomez is my paycheck name.

Senator INOUYE. Your paycheck name? [Laughter.]

Ms. GOMEZ. Vice Chairman Inouye and members of the Senate

Committee on Indian Affairs, I appreciate the opportunity to submit this testimony in support of the recommendations of the National Indian Head Start Directors Association for amendments to

the Head Start Act as it applies to American Indian/Alaska Native

Head Start programs.

Among the proposed recommendations are amendments that relate to Native language preservation, an issue I would like to focus

on in this testimony. In the early 1990’s, Congress passed the Native Language Act, which recognized the unique status that tribes

hold in the United States as sovereign entities through treaties and

acts of Congress and the central importance of native languages. I

hope this body will once again reaffirm its commitment to native

people and the survival of their languages and culture through

careful and thoughtful consideration.

I went to school when I was 5 years old. My first language was

English. My mother is Acoma Pueblo. My father is Tiwa from

northern New Mexico. His language is Tiwa. As such, I learned to

speak English first.

When I went to school, I saw my classmates suffer because they

came to school speaking their first language, which was Tiwa.

When we would go into the playground, because they were forbidden to speak in the classrooms, we would go out into the playground and we would sit in our little circles playing, and they

would whisper to me: [Speaks briefly in Native language.] ‘‘Why do

you speak English? Are you a Poinsiena? Are you a white girl?’’

I tried very hard to learn my language. My mother, whose native

language is Keres, saw my suffering and the trauma that I was experiencing, and she learned, made every effort to learn, the Tiwa

language. My native language is my second language.

I went through school speaking and learning both English and

Tiwa. When I became a mother, I taught my children only English.

When they became adults, young adults, I realized that through

my efforts to prevent my children from experiencing the same trauma that I experienced, I robbed my children of their rightful heritage. My children do not speak the language.

I came into the Head Start program when the Head Start program and the local Bureau school had made an effort, because of

the community assessment and the findings of the community assessment, and the tribal communities voicing their concern about
10

our children not speaking the language, because children were

speaking English in places where English didn’t have a place, and

those were in our ceremonial places.

Children were speaking to their grandparents in English. The

grandparents sometimes didn’t have anyone to speak to in their

language, and I see this not only in my tribe, but many tribes

across the Nation.

After we applied for the ANA grant and were granted a 3-year

grant through an ANA program, we developed a language immersion program in the Head Start program. The second year of implementing our program our children were tested because many of the

teachers, and even fluent Native teachers, were concerned that, if

our children were immersed in a language program, they would

have academic delays. In the second year of implementing our program, our children were tested and their gains were greater than

the children in the English-only classrooms.

We understand in the Head Start program that we have Federal

mandates that we have to comply with. We understand our President’s efforts to reach every child in the No Child Left Behind Act.

We understand that English is very important, but just as well we

want our Native languages to have the same recognition, to have

the same status as English, because in order for children to

progress and develop socially and academically, they have to be

recognized and honored for who they are and where they have

come from.

In our language immersion program, children can go out into the

community and acknowledge people, their people, in their language. Children can use their Native language outside of the tribal

community and greet each other in their language. When they go

out into the greater community, because they are nurtured and

honored for where they come from and who they are, they can succeed in the greater world.

Learning your native tongue and learning English can happen simultaneously. We see that in our language immersion program.

After the ANA grant expired, we had an opportunity to apply for

a full-day, full-year grant through the Head Start program, and we

wrote our language program into the Head Start grant. Our teachers, our native language teachers, understand accountability, and

many of them have taken the challenge to go back to school and

receive early childhood education.

We can bring more native-language-speaking teachers into the

classroom to develop culturally-relevant material, teaching materials. We understood early on in our program that we can’t just

translate written curriculum or borrowed curriculum and try to

teach our native language. It is a challenge to develop curriculum

and teaching materials to teach native languages, but those teachers that have done this are very creative and innovative teachers

that have taken that challenge.

They teach outside of the walls of the classroom. They teach children to honor and respect their environment.

As I went through my personal education process, because we

weren’t recognized and honored for who we were, many of us left

our language and culture behind, and our children, as such, didn’t

learn that. We robbed them of that.
11

I could see the breakdown of the social structure of my tribe. It

is our hope that in bringing back the language in the home and in

the classrooms that we can start to bring back the social values of

our tribes which can be communicated in our language.

Native language and culture in American Indian/Alaska Native

Head Start programs will help to ensure that indigenous children

are educated in a cultural-appropriate manner and be able to relate

to the larger society from an intact cultural perspective, not from

a destroyed or distorted cultural perspective.

Native language programs and Head Start programs represent a

native’s adaptation of the ideal of education. For a native culture,

learning means discovering the principles and the relations of everything. Integrating native culture and language in NIAN Head

Start programs will contribute not only to the survival of native society, but also to the survival of the world through native contributions to the community of learning.

We do not believe that language and literacy activities geared toward English are the only meaningful ones in a classroom of students from a native language background, the home language and

literacies of native children can and should be incorporated into the

classroom in ways that would be socially useful and cognitively

challenging for children. Inclusion of the home language and culture in the classroom curriculum allows Native children the opportunity to be the experts and build pride in the languages and cultures of their family.

The inclusion of native languages in the classroom is also cognitively challenging. These children will develop mental linguistic

awareness, the ability to think how language works, a skill that

will help them in learning how to read and write in English.

In an effort to ensure school readiness, we must make sure to

leave intact and strengthen the paths to meaningful life connections to family and community. Thank you. [Speaks a Native language word.]

[Prepared statement of Ms. Gomez appears in appendix.]

Senator INOUYE. Thank you very much. Historians and anthropologists have long suggested that language is an integral part of

culture and civilization. When language disappears, that culture

and civilization eventually disappear. No one knows anything

about Assyrians now. It is because it is long gone. No one speaks

that language. Or Chaldean or Babylonian, but these were great

civilizations at one time.

In the same sense, I agree with the anthropologists and sociologists and historians. I am proud to say that we in Hawaii have a

very ambitious Native Hawaiian language immersion program, and

like you, the results have shown that children who have gone

through the program have done academically better than those who

have not. So I congratulate you.

My question to you is: Have you found, has your tribe experienced any barriers in establishing and operating a native language

immersion Head Start program? Has the Government put any obstacles in your path?

Ms. GOMEZ. In the beginning, when we first implemented our

program, there were questions, just as I testified, on whether there

would be delays in the children’s academic performance. There
12

were also, interestingly, the instructors, sometimes even native instructors, stating that, ‘‘I went and took and got my degree to teach

in English. I was not taught to teach my language.’’

So I think that in this act, if there is language in the law where

all people can understand that language and culture are important

to the development, the healthy and well-being of children, that everyone can understand and not put up personal barriers, and we

can overcome attitudes and understand differences and honor everyone’s culture and language.

Senator INOUYE. I thank you very much, Ms. Gomez.

May I now recognize Ms. Guillory.

STATEMENT OF CONNIE GUILLORY, NATIONAL INDIAN HEAD

START DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION, BOARD MEMBER AND DIRECTOR, NEZ PERCE TRIBE HEAD START PROGRAM,

LAPWAI, ID

Ms. GUILLORY. Thank you very much. Usually I don’t have to use

a mike, but I will be professional, I guess.

But I did hand this out yesterday, and I hope you do have it in

your packets. What it says is ‘‘The Nez Perce Tribe’s Early Childhood Development Program: Its Journey to Distance Learning Education.’’ I will be referencing that.

Today I am here to represent Head Start and Early Head Start

programs in Indian country and to talk about the relevance and

importance of distance learning for these programs. In my experience as the Director of the Nez Perce Tribe Early Childhood Development Program, which includes Head Start, Early Head Start,

and the Child Care and Development Fund, distance learning can

and has successfully bridged the resource gap experienced by nearly all rurally-located Indian tribes. To do this, Indian country has

already begun developing collaborations to utilize distance learning, especially for professional development purposes.

As we know, Indian country does not have a cadre of people prepared to enter the workforce. Rather, the workforce consists of parents with children. Unfortunately, all too often they lack the skills

needed or are entering the workforce for the first time, do not have

a high school diploma, and many are working to just get their

GED.

So what do we do in Indian country? We have to become creative

and innovative while developing practical, attainable, professional

development training plans to meet the needs of staff, the tribal

government, and the Federal Government. Thus, the role of technology allows programs to develop training activities and opportunities for our children, families, and communities.

Since 1994, when new academic requirements were added to the

Head Start Act, tribes have had to collaborate, create, and develop

systems to meet these requirements. In doing so, they have had to

address the difficulty of being located far from major educational

institutions.

One way we have dealt with this challenge has been through distance learning. While distance learning is relatively new to early

childhood programs in Indian country, I am happy to report that

it is up and running.
13

Tribes seek to provide ways for their people to get degrees without having to leave the reservation. For Head Start programs, distance learning permits relatively easy access to quality professional

development training plans. We should not forget that our staff

often pursue these degrees while working full time and raising a

family.

Of course, distance learning not only allows tribes to offer opportunities to tribal members, but also to their workforce, including

the non-Indians. It is a tool that works for everyone: tribal governments, employees of the tribe, and the communities within a reservation.

I am here to specifically talk about the distance learning program that the Nez Perce Tribe in Idaho entered with the Northwest Indian College based in Bellingham, Washington, almost 10

hours away. In 2001, we entered into an agreement, and in 2002,

through the Head Start program, was specifically to assist our tribe

in getting our staff trained to get on their way towards their AA

degree.

What we have found through this collaboration, the MOA is really a commitment on both sides for the Head Start Bureau, for the

local or community college, and for tribes that enter into this

agreement.

In my research I looked at the commitments ranging from Alaska, which is very remote, to the Navajo Nation, which is very big.

Our tribe isn’t that big. We do encompass five counties.

But even though distance learning can be successful, there is a

lot of the costs and benefits you have to look at prior to getting into

it. I kind of look at insight and I think, my gosh, we have accomplished so much, and maybe because we didn’t know we were successful, and maybe if we would have known, we wouldn’t be as far

as we are. I don’t know, but it has worked.

I do cite some things: that when you first go into distance learning, you talk about technology, the hardware, the video players, the

cameras, software, transmission, looking at the T1 line, satellite,

microwave. The examples I have given in our brochure here, a

PowerPoint presentation, is how we show it from Lapwai to

Kamiah, which is 62 miles going up the beautiful Clear Water

River.

But in that it is just valleys. It is not flat. It is trees. That was

probably one of our biggest obstacles. It took us 1 year to get that

in place.

You look at the maintenance, repair, and update, the infrastructure. Does the program have the infrastructure in place, production, the support, the support from the tribes, from the colleges,

from Northwest Indian College? How fast can they get over here

from Bellingham?

Well, luckily, our tribe has that information of support systems,

the personnel to not only run the program, but getting instructors

that are qualified. We do run ads every year. Although the costs

of distance learning are truly outweighed by the benefits, I do point

out that, to just start this program, it costs $463,000 to start up.

As a result, from this, as we have when I heard you speak earlier

about articulation agreements, we have articulation agreements

with Washington State University in Pullman, Washington; the
14

University of Idaho, which is in Moscow, ID, and Lewis and Clark

State in Lewiston, ID.

As we talk about this and as I try to describe it, collaboration

is the key, and in Indian country that is survival. I think about,

I actually made this sentence up: For Indian country, collaboration

is not an option; it is a necessity and, fortunately, it exists.

One successful collaborative effort is that between the Head

Start program and the American Indian Higher Education Consortium and tribal colleges and universities. There are 32 accredited

tribal colleges and universities that offer early childhood education

programs.

Then we get into our professional development that we are required to do through the Head Start Act. It says, each Head Start

agency would be required to coordinate and collaborate with the

local education agency serving the communities involved to ensure

curriculum and classroom experiences for Head Start are aligned

with the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical skills that children entering kindergarten are expected to demonstrate.

We didn’t even know this was going on, Mr. Inouye, in that the

Idaho Reading Indicator—it is called the IRI—had been testing our

children that were leaving Head Start to kindergarten from 1999.

The skills they were looking at was, once they left Head Start to

kindergarten, could they write their own name? Could they detect

rhyme? Could they detect syllables and identify uppercase letters?

I am happy to report from this graph you will see in 1999 15 percent scored at or above grade level; 3 years later, in 2002, our children scored at 49 percent at or above grade level.

As a part of this, as I indicated earlier, our Early Head Start program, which we are so fortunate to have, is offering a holistic approach to child development, and I am really a believer that

every—you know, of course, I am going to say every Indian program should have an Early Head Start program, but we start with

the mothers who the babies are being inside of them, until they

come into the program from Early Head Start to Head Start. We

have seen this work because, as a part of this statistic, these are

our Early Head Start children that started at a minimum in our

program at 3 months old, the brain development. So it does work.

That is a passion. Today, probably he has already been born; I

have a grandson that has just been born today as I present this

testimony. So it will be very memorable to me.

Professional development can be achieved but requires financial

and administrative support. I would like to state that we did receive notice that the new T&TA system that has been dismantled

was supposed to have started September 1, and to our knowledge,

it has not begun. It is a concern that we have.

I would like to, in closing, NIHSDA strongly supports amending

the Head Start Act to provide grants to tribal colleges and universities, to increase the number of post-secondary degrees in early

childhood education, and increase funding for Indian Head Start

early childhood services. When I say that, I don’t mean just Head

Start. I am talking from birth to 5 years of age. As shown in our

report, it does work.

In collaboration with local school districts, we support that, but

we need to keep it separate because this is a result of it. I don’t
15

know that we should necessarily be mandated, even though I heard

an assurance that that wouldn’t occur.

Then increase funding to retain and recruit staff. Again, this was

real disappointing for me, is that, through this process of getting

staff educated, what we are finding now, they are getting their education. We are helping to support them. Just last week, I lost a person. I know we can never keep them or make them stay with you,

but a lot of it is going to have to depend on the salary we are going

to be able to pay them. We have to pay them. She gave me two

days’ notice and she went to the Lewiston Idaho School District. So

that was really a disappointment to us.

I just want to say that it does work, Early Head Start and distance learning, and that we need to have enough funding to meet

these mandates. I had Windy Hill ask me that. When I showed her

the diagram, she said, ‘‘Well, how did it work? What did you do?’’

I said, ‘‘Well, I don’t know. I guess we’ve done what you told us to

do.’’

I think as Indian people we do that. We get these Federal regulations and we do; we do the best we can without a lot of times the

resources to do it.

With that, Mr. Chairman, thank you.

[Prepared statement of Ms. Guillory appears in appendix.]

Senator INOUYE. Well, congratulations. The Nez Perce Tribe is

very fortunate to have you, Ma’am.

Ms. GUILLORY. Thank you.

Senator INOUYE. Under the Memorandum of Agreement, what

percentage of your teachers have met, or are meeting, the education degree requirement?

Ms. GUILLORY. Mr. Chairman, until I lost this person, we were

doing pretty good. Right now I am one of those directors, contrary

to probably a lot of the belief out there, that what we have set up

in the way of professional development, that within the first year

they must get their CDA. That is the basic foundation.

Along with that, then they start to enter into school for their AA

degree via our distance learning program. If they choose to go directly or they already have some classes, we just start their professional development plans and try to provide that support to get

their degrees.

We are not at 50 percent. We are at probably 75 percent for our

CDAs, but we are not for our AAs. I mean I am not even looking

at a bachelor’s, to be honest with you.

I know that they are trying to make that mandatory by 2008. I

don’t know that tribes can meet that.

Senator INOUYE. I thank you very much, and, ladies, I thank you

all very much.

Our next panel: The National Indian Head Start Directors Association board member, Lee Turney; National Indian Head Start Directors Association board member, Ann Belleau; executive director,

Department of Education, Pueblo of Laguna, Gilbert Sanchez, and

Navajo Nation Government Services Committee, Roy Laughter.

Mr. Turney.
16

STATEMENT OF LEE TURNEY, NATIONAL INDIAN HEAD START

DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION, BOARD MEMBER AND DIRECTOR,

LEECH LAKE BAND OF OJIBWE HEAD START PROGRAM,

CASS LAKE, MN, ACCOMPANIED BY ANN BELLEAU, NATIONAL INDIAN HEAD START DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION,

BOARD MEMBER AND DIRECTOR, INTER-TRIBAL COUNCIL

OF MICHIGAN INC. HEAD START/EARLY START, SAULT STE.

MARIE, MI; GILBERT SANCHEZ, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, PUEBLO OF LAGUNA, LAGUNA,

NM; ROY LAUGHTER, NAVAJO NATION GOVERNMENT SERVICES COMMITTEE, NAVAJO NATION, PHOENIX, AZ; AND LEE

MORGAN, CONTRACT COMPLIANCE OFFICER, NAVAJO NATION, PHOENIX, AZ

Mr. TURNEY. Good morning, Mr. Chairman. First, I would like to

thank you for allowing me an opportunity to present oral testimony

on the reauthorization of Head Start. I will concentrate my comments this morning on Indian Head Start research and the need

to establish curricula that reflects the unique learning styles and

cultural values of Native American people.

In the area of research, while some research has been done in

Indian country, tribes are still legislatively excluded from the national research agenda. If we are to meet the challenges of tomorrow and establish the successes for our children, we need to be included in any further and in future research agendas at the national level.

Also, when research is conducted, it will be important to take

into account the unique cultural characteristics of the children and

families that we serve. Also, tribal communities must have a significant voice in the research when it is designed and conducted.

There is a strong consensus that American Indian and Alaskan

Native children bring unique aspects of their culture and background when they come into Head Start. In order for us to provide

appropriate relevant Head Start services, programs must be able to

accommodate those unique characteristics.

The American Indian/Alaska Native programs support the Head

Start Bureau’s efforts to improve accountability by strengthening

the screening and assessment of child outcomes and program monitoring. However, these instruments, measures, and procedures

that are going to be used to assess our children must be culturallyappropriate.

The National Indian Head Start Directors Association recommends research in some of the following areas:

The national reporting system. We need to ensure that as we go

out and do this assessment on our children that the tool is culturally-appropriate and sensitive to the various aspects that our

children provide across Indian country.

The current Head Start Act of 1998 had two studies which Congress thought were important back in 1998. To date, neither of

these studies have been reported out to Indian country.

They are, one, status of children. This report was to conduct a

study on the service delivery to Indian children living on or near

Indian reservations.
17

A side note to that is that the migrants were also included in

this legislative action. Their report has been completed and published.

Another report was on facilities, and we heard earlier that that

report should be coming out in the near future, but it was a report

that looked at the condition, location, and ownership of facilities

that are used currently or available for use by travel grantees.

In my written testimony I have outlined a few other examples of

research projects that the association submits for consideration in

the future.

In the area of curricula, many observers and educators have

noted the importance of providing culturally-appropriate curricula

for the American Indian and Alaska Native children. In this, language and culture, as we have heard in previous testimony this

morning, plays a vital role. We believe that this would provide for

the social, emotional, and historical links that would aid in the

child development and achievement in school.

We believe that each child must have an understanding of who

they are and where they have come from in order to be able to

walk in both worlds, as we have to do today to be successful. Indian students learn in styles that are unique to their cultural upbringing. At times the American education system and their background are not compatible. Then we need to have the research

available that defines that. Like any child, an American Indian/

Alaska Native child would be more apt to be engaged in classroom

activities and instructions if the curriculum that was being presented fit their cultural backgrounds.

Research is very important. I believe that we have heard today

how important culture/language is in the development of our children and knowing who they are as Native American peoples.

I urge Congress to make provisions in the new Head Start Act

that would recognize tribes in the future as part of the national research agenda, so that we can provide the curricula, both in Early

Head Start, Head Start, and also into the public and tribal school

systems that is reflective of the children that they are providing

services for.

Mr. Chairman, I thank you.

[Prepared statement of Mr. Turney appears in appendix.]

Senator INOUYE. Thank you very much, Mr. Turney.

Are you suggesting that the reporting system is culturally-insensitive?

Mr. TURNEY. That has been the consensus from the people that

we have sent to do the conduction of the test. We have moved forward, but our concern, again, is across Indian country is that there

are some biases that have been included and have been removed.

But it is our belief that if we are going to go forward in tests, then

the testing tool should be accurate and should meet all the needs

of all the children, instead of fix it as we go.

Senator INOUYE. And the tools today are not sufficiently culturally-sensitive?

Mr. TURNEY. No, sir; I don’t believe so.

Senator INOUYE. All right, thank you very much.

Mr. TURNEY. Thank you, sir.

Senator INOUYE. May I now recognize Ms. Belleau.
18

STATEMENT OF ANN BELLEAU, NATIONAL INDIAN HEAD

START DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION, BOARD MEMBER AND DIRECTOR, INTER-TRIBAL COUNCIL OF MICHIGAN INC. HEAD

START/EARLY START, SAULT STE. MARIE, MI

Ms. BELLEAU. Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on behalf of the National Head Start Directors Association. My testimony focuses on the need for an American Indian and

Alaska Native Early Head Start funding setaside separate from the

current pre-school Head Start setaside.

There are many reasons that justify the need for a separate setaside for the American Indian/Alaska Native programs. The first

reason is the obvious disparity in the number of tribal Early Head

Start programs that are funded as compared to the other 10 regions.

From the very beginning, the American Indian/Alaska Native

programs received proportionately less funding. During the first

wave of Early Head Start funding in 1995, only 2 out of 68 applications funded were tribal programs. This pattern of funding fewer

tribal programs began in 1995 and has continued until today. In

fact, most recently, during the last funding opportunity, only 4 of

the tribal applications received funding, leaving more than 20 applications from tribal entities unfunded.

A separate setaside would ensure equal opportunity for tribal applications and would alleviate the American Indian/Alaska Native

programs from competing for Early Head Start funds at the national level with the other 10 regions and only compete for funds

with their counterparts in the American Indian/Alaska Native Programs Branch. This would also allow for tribal applications to have

a separate grant review process where the reviewers would better

understand the unique circumstances that each tribe is challenged

with.

Today there are 708 Early Head Start programs across the Nation. Only 43 of those programs are American Indian/Alaska Native

programs. This is only approximately 5 percent of the total Early

Head Start grantees.

The 2002 PIR data confirmed that only 4.6 percent of the nationwide enrollment are American Indian/Alaska Native children, to

again demonstrate the blatant disparity of tribal Early Head Start

programs that have been funded and are currently available to

tribes across the country. A separate setaside would ensure a more

equitable distribution of grant funds to tribal governments. The existing setaside for pre- school Head Start has provided a foundation

for stable American Indian/Alaska Native pre-school Head Start

programs. A separate setaside would provide the same opportunity

to tribal Early Head Start programs.

Currently, the national Head Start budget only allocates 2.9 percent of funding for the American Indian and Alaska Native preschool Head Start programs. This allocation currently is not sufficient for the pre-school age program and should not be considered

as a source for the tribal Early Head Start setaside, justifying the

need for a completely separate setaside for the American Indian/

Alaska Native Early Head Start programs.

Early Head Start is very beneficial to the American Indian/Alaska Native population because services to pregnant women, infants,
19

and toddlers are limited. Early Head Start is the only comprehensive early childhood program of its kind available to tribes.

Early Head Start improves the overall quality of life by ensuring

that children receive immunizations, routine health care, nutritious

meals, family services, improved parenting skills, and much more.

Early Head Start programs double as child care services for families to provide them with more opportunity to attend classes or

work without the added expense of paying for child care that they

cannot afford.

There is a greater need for Early Head Start services within Indian country since tribes are disadvantaged by lack of resources

and struggle to find funding to operate programs and services to

assist tribal members. While there is a common misconception that

tribes are rich because of the casinos, in reality this is not the case,

except for a few who are the minority, not the majority. The rest

of us benefit from low-paying jobs that put us just over the Head

Start income guidelines, but certainly do not make us rich. These

low-paying jobs put food on the table and money to pay everyday

household bills without having to depend on TANF for assistance,

rich we are not, but in need we are.

Thank you.

[Prepared statement of Ms. Belleau appears in appendix.]

Senator INOUYE. Thank you very much, Ms. Belleau.

I just received a call from the Senate Chamber. I am the senior

member of the Defense Appropriations Committee, and they just

brought up my bill and they feel that I must be there in order to

manage that bill. So may I call a short recess? We will try to resolve the matter in the Senate immediately. So can you stick

around for about half an hour? Thank you very much.

[Recess.]

Senator INOUYE. I am sorry for this interruption, but I think we

have the matter resolved.

Ms. Belleau, we have heard about Indian children being involved.

How many children do you believe are eligible for these programs

and how many are enrolled? I just want to see how many are denied this.

Ms. BELLEAU. As far as being denied, I can’t really give you a

specific number, but we do know that there are a lot of tribes that

are not even being served right now under Early Head Start. In my

State alone we have three tribes that are completely unserved for

Head Start or Early Head Start. But as far as specific numbers,

we could certainly get that information back to you.

Senator INOUYE. Yes; I think the committee would like to know

how many eligible children there are and how many are enrolled.

That would give us an idea of what the scope is.

Thank you very much, and may I now recognize Mr. Sanchez.

STATEMENT OF GILBERT SANCHEZ, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, PUEBLO OF LAGUNA, LAGUNA, NM

Mr. SANCHEZ. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chairman, for inviting me to

testify on behalf of the Pueblo of Laguna regarding Head Start reauthorization. My written testimony has been submitted for the
20

record, and it describes Laguna’s Head Start and early childhood

programs in more depth.

But let me just say that our programs are family-driven and very

comprehensive. There are more than 600 children under the age of

5 years in our community. We are serving only 40 percent of them,

in large part due to the concerns and issues I have identified in the

written testimony.

It is important to distinguish that these comments are unique to

Laguna tribe that has successful years of experience in managing

our own education system, and, therefore, our position may not be

fully supported by all tribes.

In summary, our concerns are, first, the option of direct funding

to tribes should be provided on a contractual basis with the Federal

Government, so that tribes can provide comprehensive education

programs.

Second, funding levels for all programs are inadequate and need

to be increased.

Third, the 15 percent limitation on administrative costs is too

low. The Pueblo needs to fully recover administrative costs.

Fourth, continue to improve the administration of performance

standards and evaluations.

Fifth, separate program funds must be made available to meet

our facilities and transportation needs.

Sixth, national standards and assessment criteria must accommodate and support the provision of language and culture evaluation/education.

For the remaining of my time I would like to discuss Laguna’s

support for the Department of Health and Human Services direct

contracting for tribes for Head Start and early childhood programs.

I will also discuss the supreme importance of providing our children with language and cultural education.

The Pueblo of Laguna was enthusiastic about President Bush’s

initiative to encourage the consolidation of early childhood programs with Head Start programs. However, we were disappointed

that the President did not initiate this helpful concept for tribes.

Because of this, Laguna is delighted and supportive of the committee for considering the establishment of direct contracting tribal

demonstration programs. A demonstration program should allow

tribes to, one, establish their own performance standards and compliance criteria; two, develop and implement Native language and

culture immersion programs; three, develop streamline reporting

systems for managing multiple programs to minimize administrative costs, and, four, identify barriers to effective use of Federal,

tribal, State, and private resources.

However, we must point out that the tribal demonstration

projects will be hampered by multiple program and agency requirements unless Federal administrative reforms are implemented. To

this end, Laguna believes that:

First, tribes should be able to combine Federal funds with multiple agencies into a single administrative system.

Second, Federal agencies should collaborate on how to combine

the resources into a single service delivery system.
21

Third, Federal agencies should be assisted in harmonizing their

statutory requirements by enabling them to waive requirements

where it makes sense to do so.

Fourth, integration tools should be developed and used to

streamline reporting, auditing, and oversight of programs.

Fifth, Federal agencies should jointly provide multiple program

technical assistance.

Other Federal reforms are needed to facilitate interagency fund

transfers, eliminate separate recordkeeping requirements, and

allow tribes to receive full administrative costs compensation without overage reductions.

The importance of tribal preservation of language and culture:

Laguna Pueblo values thinking and education of families, but we

must also value traditional culture and ceremony. The early years

of childhood are critical to a lifelong development not only in the

cognitive or physical sense, but also in the social and cultural

sense. The traditional means of educating children must be supplemented by our education systems, including the Head Start and

early childhood programs. A young child’s early conception of the

basic elements of language and culture are important to Laguna

people for lifelong success as an individual, as a contributing member of Laguna society.

Laguna is concerned that the great emphasis on other learning

will undermine our important efforts in language and cultural

transference. In order to be Laguna and to say that Laguna exists

in the world, Laguna’s values, attitudes, beliefs, rules, history, kinship, and certainty of life must be transferred to each generation.

Our stories, language, and ceremonies represent particular Laguna

knowledge on a variety of subjects. These cultural lifeways are the

backbone of our society.

The Bush administration is developing a national reporting system to measure a child’s language and literacy skills in order to

track child outcomes and progress in educational achievement. Laguna supports closing the achievement gap of disadvantaged children, but the proposed system only values non-cultural learning. If

child readiness and programmatic success are to be measured only

by non-cultural learning outcomes, tribal programs may not be able

to fully measure up, and this would be exceedingly unfair.

Cultural education and provision of it must not be discounted in

the evaluation of readiness skills nor in the evaluation of programmatic success. Instead, Native language and culture education

should be supported.

The Native American Language Act makes it official Federal policy to preserve, protect, and promote the rights and freedom of Native Americans to use, practice, and develop their languages. We

think that the Department of Health and Human Services should

embrace this policy.

In conclusion, again, I want to thank you for allowing the Pueblo

of Laguna to present its views. Our Pueblo is obligated to do the

best we can for our families and children. That is why we are here

today, and we look forward to working with this committee in the

future. Thank you.

[Prepared statement of Mr. Sanchez appears in appendix.]

Senator INOUYE. Thank you very much, Mr. Sanchez.
22

I have received communications from several leaders who have

suggested that self-determination contracts be entered into to authorize Indians to establish their own Head Start programs, programs where the performance standards would meet or exceed that

established by the Bureau. Do you believe that, if this authorization is established, programs under these agreements would exceed

the performance standards that are now in place?

Mr. SANCHEZ. Yes; I do. I feel like, if given the opportunity, we

would work toward quality. As it is now, when you consider performance standards, they are minimum and many times we don’t

even measure up to the minimum, for lack of resources and wherewithal as tribes.

But in the case where Laguna established its own Department

of Education, we were able to combine all our education programs

into one system in Laguna. So we basically manage about 35 funding sources and about six different fiscal years.

I think the success we are having with our programs, managing

all of our programs under one agency, has really allowed us to

focus on the quality aspect of it. So I think, given the 10 years of

experience that we have had doing this, that Head Start would do

very well within our program because I know we would be able to

follow the guidelines that probably go beyond that.

Senator INOUYE. Thank you very much, Mr. Sanchez.

Mr. Laughter.

STATEMENT OF ROY LAUGHTER, NAVAJO NATION GOVERNMENT SERVICES COMMITTEE, NAVAJO NATION, PHOENIX,

AZ

Mr. LAUGHTER. Mr. Vice Chairman Inouye and staff members of

the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, good morning. My name

is Roy Laughter. I am a council delegate from Chilchinbeto and

Kayenta Chapter of the Navajo Nation. With me to answer questions about Navajo Head Start is Lee Morgan, contract compliance

officer.

On behalf of the Navajo people, I thank you for this opportunity

to present our concerns and recommendations regarding the proposals before Congress to change the Head Start program. The

Navajo Head Start program is of critical importance to the health

and welfare of the Navajo children. Head Start enables the Navajo

Nation to invest in its most valuable resource, the children of the

Navajo Nation.

The Navajo Reservation is geographically as large as West Virginia. The unemployment rate on the Navajo Nation currently

ranges from 50 to 60 percent. Our per-capita income is $6,123,

which is less than one-third of its State neighbors, Arizona and

New Mexico.

The Navajo Nation has over 19,000 children. Navajo children

alone represent one-third of all the Native American children who

receive Head Start services throughout the United States. The

Navajo Head Start serves nearly 4,073 children who otherwise

would not receive comprehensive services.

The Navajo Head Start is one of the largest Native American

Head Start programs operating in the United States today. In fact,

they are one of only ten super-grantees within the Head Start Bu-
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reau. Navajo Head Start has 250 centers and offices, 177 classrooms, and 60 home-based programs. The Navajo Head Start

serves a growing population whose birth rate is 21.7 per 1,000,

compared to the United States at 14.8 per 1,000.

Since its inception in 1965, Navajo Head Start has taken on new

initiatives to provide comprehensive health, educational, nutritional, socialization and related culture to promote school readiness. Navajo Head Start provides medical and dental screenings

and nutritional meals to students. Parenting classes and counseling services are also offered to Head Start families on the Navajo

Nation with a special component for career development, to help

Navajo parents to provide better lives for their children.

The Navajo Head Start is nationally distinguished as a Head

Start that offers programs to preserve culture and language using

technology infrastructure. The Navajo Head Start has two primary

concerns related to changes reflecting President Bush’s proposal to

Head Start programs.

The first concern regards the delegation of Head Start authority

to States. The second is lack of recognizing language and culture

which is essential to a child’s development. The following is a brief

outline of these concerns.

First, the Navajo Nation finds that the delegation of Head Start

authority to the State would be difficult because the Federal Government has treaty and trust responsibility to Indian tribes

through the United States Constitution, treaties, case laws, and

subsequent legislations. Our program exists in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.

Given the historical relationship between the Navajo Nation and

States, our relationship has not been favorable toward receiving

fair and equitable funding of Federal flow-through dollars. As a result, tribes do not see the State as a proper mechanism for these

programs and have, instead, insisted on maintaining the direct government-to-government relationship with the United States.

Second, the Navajo Nation believes the Navajo language and culture are an integral part of our children. Language and culture is

a way of life that defines one’s self identity and self esteem. It is

the hope of the Navajo Head Start to aid in the preservation of the

Navajo language and culture.

We have two recommendations. First, exempt the American Indian/Alaskan Native Program Branch from State authority to ensure that the Navajo Nation and tribes maintain the governmentto-government relationship and direct funding to tribal communities.

Second, incorporate the Native American Language Preservation

Act. On behalf of the Navajo people, Navajo Head Start, we proudly

present this program to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs

not only as an educational institution, but as a quality holistic program uniquely designed to meet the individual needs of each child,

family, expectant mother, and community. We are committed to

empower each child, family, expectant mother, and community to

become proactive and effective learners, leaders, and caretakers of

the future generation of the great Navajo Nation.

I thank you, Mr. Vice Chairman.

[Prepared statement of Mr. Laughter appears in appendix.]
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Senator INOUYE. I thank you very much, Mr. Laughter. Your testimony suggests that your program in the Navajo Nation is a successful one. Am I correct?

Mr. LAUGHTER. Yes.

Senator INOUYE. You have indicated that there are 19,000 eligible children?

Mr. LAUGHTER. Yes, sir.

Senator INOUYE. And, of that number, 4,500 are enrolled?

Mr. LAUGHTER. Yes.

Senator INOUYE. The remaining 14,500, are they not in the program because they don’t wish to take part or are they denied access because of lack of funds?

Mr. LAUGHTER. I would like to defer this question to Mr. Morgan

because he is an expert on that.

Senator INOUYE. Mr. Morgan.

STATEMENT OF LEE MORGAN, CONTRACT COMPLIANCE

OFFICER, NAVAJO NATION, PHOENIX, AZ

Mr. MORGAN. Vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian

Affairs, Mr. Inouye, there are 19,000 children that are documented

that we have on the Navajo Nation. Of that 19,000 children, we are

providing services to 7,000; 4,000 of those services are provided by

Head Start; 3,000 are provided by Child Care Development Fund

Program. The remaining children are either taken in by the FACE

program or the majority of those children are basically left at

home.

Senator INOUYE. So there are some children left out?

Mr. MORGAN. There are a lot of them left out. It is estimated

that 60 percent or more are not even being served.

Senator INOUYE. This is because of the lack of funds or the lack

of trained personnel?

Mr. MORGAN. There are several factors involved in this. There is

several legislations that have been enacted by Congress that impact it. One of them is the Workforce Program, which basically

what it is is have the parent go back to work. So that impacts the

Head Start program in a way that we don’t get volunteer service,

but it also makes the parents have to move away from the reservation into larger cities. But those that do remain, they basically are

now dependent on their extended family to provide that support.

Due to the facility and our funding enrollment, we are not able to

serve those children. So there are several circumstances involved

as a whole that affects those services to children.

Senator INOUYE. Is this the same ratio that you find in your

tribes, 60 percent not having access to the Head Start program?

Ms. BELLEAU. Ours vary from tribe to tribe. You know, we have

small communities and large communities and then some communities who are not served at all. So I would say that would be accurate as an overall percentage for our State.

Senator INOUYE. Whatever the cause, some children are being

left behind?

Ms. BELLEAU. Definitely.

Senator INOUYE. Well, I can assure you that this committee will

do its utmost to make certain that no child is left behind. Notwith-
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standing what others say about it, we will try our best to carry

that out.

So, with that, I would like to wish all of you a good day. Thank

you very much for your participation. The committee appreciates it

very much. Thank you.

[Whereupon, at 12 noon, the committee adjourned subject to the

call of the Chair.]

(27)

APPENDIX

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD

PREPARED STATEMENT OF WINDY M. HILL, ASSOCIATE COMMISSIONER, HEAD START

BUREAU, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I appreciate this opportunity to

testify before you today on the President’s plan to strengthen Head Start, including

those programs serving American Indian and Alaska Native children and families.

Head Start is an important means of helping to ensure that every child has the opportunity to enter school ready to learn. Recently, the House took a major step toward making certain that each Head Start child will have the skills they need to

succeed in school by marking up H.R. 2210, the ‘‘School Readiness Act of 2002’’ to

reauthorize and strengthen the Head Start program. We look forward to action on

Head Start reauthorization in the Senate in the coming days.

I would like to focus my time today on the President’s goals for improving Head

Start, both through reauthorization and also through direct changes in program

services. I also want to share some highlights and insights into Head Start services

and operations within American Indian and Alaska Native programs [AIAN Head

Start], that I know are of special interest to this committee. The President remains

committed to maintaining the current Federal to local relationship with American

Indian and Alaska Native Head Start programs and working with these programs

to address the unique challenges they face.

As you know, Head Start was launched in 1965 as part of a bold, ‘‘big idea’’—

that no child should be disadvantaged in their education because of the circumstances of their families. Our common goal remains—to prepare our children for

success in school and later life. What you may not know is that I am one of the

lucky ones—one for whom the Head Start program goals and ideals became a vivid

reality. I am here today as a living legacy of the fulfilled promises that Head Start

can and must make for every child and family. I am here not only as the Associate

Commissioner of Head Start, but also as a former Head Start child and the mother

of a Head Start child who is now an accomplished high school student.

As a child growing up in rural Texas, no one could have imagined that I would

1 day testify before the U.S. Congress. No one could have imagined that I would

introduce the President of the United States during his recent public address at a

local program. No one knew for sure, but everyone believed in the power of Head

Start to change lives and influence futures.

None of us should be satisfied until we have achieved the vision reflected in the

bold ideas that have become synonymous with Head Start, which is that economically disadvantaged children should arrive at school on a level playing field with

their more economically advantaged peers. Any current shortfalls in achieving this

goal should not label the Head Start program as a failure. We must all see it as

a challenge for the program to do even better.

Recent research shows that although Head Start children make progress in areas

of school readiness during the Head Start year, they continue to lag behind their

more economically advantaged peers. Even Head Start graduates making significant
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progress continue to lag too far behind age norms on a number of important indicators of emerging literacy and numerary skills.

Consequently, the President and Secretary Thompson sent a clear message to the

Head Start Bureau. Given this compelling evidence, more has to be done to

strengthen the educational outcomes for children. In response to the President and

Secretary Thompson’s charge, we must look for ways to improve the effectiveness

of the Head Start program. Much about the program works, and works well, but

we know the program needs to move ahead—particularly in the areas of educational

gains and coordination.

As part of the President’s Good Start, Grow Smart initiative, we were directed

to increase the knowledge and skills of Head Start teachers in the area of preschool

language and literacy and to create and manage a National Reporting System that

will help measure children’s progress in mastering the skills necessary to enter

school ready to learn.

In response, the Head Start Bureau has already undertaken a number of efforts

aimed at bolstering the school-readiness of Head Start children. The Strategic

Teacher Education Program, known as STEP, launched last summer, was designed

to ensure that every Head Start program and every classroom teacher has a fundamental knowledge of early development and literacy, and of state-of-the-art early

literacy teaching techniques. More than 3,300 local program teachers and supervisors, including representatives from ALAN programs, have received this training

and have served as ‘‘trainers’’ to the nearly 50,000 Head Start teachers across the

country. I am pleased to report that these trainers and Head Start directors are reporting that this early literacy training is making a difference in their classrooms.

Following the summer training sessions, the Head Start Bureau hosted national

training conferences on mentor-coaching and social-emotional development. These

events expanded the skills of teachers and supervisors in fostering effective classroom practices. A national Web-based resource, called STEP-Net, has been created

to help early literacy specialists access and use resources and tools, and to exchange

information and promising practices.

We see AIAN grantees actively participating in these nationally convened and

sponsored Head Start trainings. Because the President has made accountability a

guiding principle of his Administration, we are working to make sure that we measure the outcomes of our efforts, not merely the processes and procedures that make

up each of our programs.

To that end, the most important indicator of any program’s efficacy is whether

it is, in fact, helping the individuals it is intended to help by achieving important

outcomes. Throughout Head Start’s history, critical outcomes have been reported for

child health, child development, parent education, adult literacy and GED’s, and

other aspects of Head Start’s hallmark comprehensive service design. However, in

many Head Start programs, the cognitive aspects of school readiness have not been

a priority and cognitive outcomes have not been included in annual program reports.

Good Start, Grow Smart, therefore, calls for not only the improvement and

strengthening of Head Start through intense, large-scale efforts in the areas of early

language and literacy, but also for a method to track the results of this effort. As

the President often reminds us, good intentions, although better than bad intentions, are not good enough. This Administration believes that we must also challenge ourselves to determine whether or not good intentions are translating into

good outcomes. We must, therefore, do a better job of determining how well Head

Start children across the country are being prepared for academic success once they

enter school.

This fall we are beginning implementation of the national assessment system of

the congressionally mandated school-readiness indicators for all the 4-year and 5-

year old children in Head Start. Children will complete these assessments upon entering and exiting Head Start. We have just completed eight national events to train

and certify local staff in the conduct of this national assessment and reporting system. Across the country, an initial 181 ALAN staff were certified in the assessment

procedures, trained in the data entry and are now in the process of training and

certifying additional local staff.

The President’s Proposal

The Administration’s efforts to improve the quality of Head Start services for all

children continue with the President’s proposal for reauthorization of Head Start.

The President believes there must be a stronger focus on the educational program

of Head Start and the measurement and assessment of outcomes which will move

the Head Start program to a higher level of overall school readiness for low-income

children.
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The President also believes even more must be done about the lack of adequate

coordination between Head Start and state-administered programs which undermines the program’s ability to provide high quality preschool services to as many

children as possible throughout every State. Where coordination is not currently occurring, we are finding gaps and patchy areas in our services to the detriment of

young children and their families. Nationwide, approximately 62,000 funded Head

Start slots go empty each year. Lack of coordination often makes worse the troubling and avoidable under-enrollment problem in Head Start.

Therefore, to strengthen the Head Start program, improve services to low-income

children, and promote the coordination and integration of early care and education

services, President Bush is asking Congress to include in the reauthorization of the

Head Start Act a provision that will allow interested and qualified States to include

Head Start in their overall plans for preschool services. As part of the solution,

under the President’s proposal, eligible States would have the opportunity to coordinate their preschool programs and child care programs with Head Start in exchange

for meeting certain accountability, maintenance of effort and programmatic requirements. States wishing to participate must submit a State plan for approval to the

Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, that addresses several fundamental issues.

Each State must indicate in its plan how it would better coordinate Head Start

with State administered preschool programs. In addition, the State plan must address how it will work to develop educational goals for all preschool children in the

State and devise an accountability system to determine whether children are achieving the goals. States must describe in their plan how they will maintain the comprehensive range of services for children supported by Head Start funds, including

the provision of social, nutrition, and health services, and guarantee that they will

continue to provide at least as much financial support for state preschool programs

and Head Start as they are currently providing.

Let me be clear that the President is not proposing to block-grant Head Start

funding to States. Only in those instances where eligible States apply for integrated

preschool services and are approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services

will States be allowed to manage Head Start programs. Under the bill passed by

the House, Head Start will continue to be managed as a Federal-to-local program

in all but eight States and for all MAN programs. To be clear on this point, no State

will be required to take advantage of this opportunity nor is anyone proposing that

the Head Start program be turned over to States with no strings attached.

The President’s proposal does not allow States who may qualify for participation

in a State option to do away with the comprehensive services currently available

through Head Start. Indeed, States taking advantage of this option must make a

commitment to maintain the comprehensive services currently available through

Head Start for those children who, under the State plan, are supported with Head

Start funds.

The President’s plan also makes clear that the Federal Government will not cease

or relinquish its oversight responsibilities for the Head Start program. Under the

President’s proposal, even States who choose this option and who have their plans

approved will still be accountable to the Federal government for their use of Head

Start funds and for achieving positive outcomes for children. In cases where a State

does not choose this option or where a State’s plan is not approved, the Federal Government will continue to administer the Head Start program as a direct Federalto-local program. I also want to mention that the President’s plan would prohibit

States from supplanting State preschool funds with Head Start dollars.

Finally, our proposal would change the current set-aside for training and technical

assistance to provide the Secretary with greater discretionary authority to allocate

these resources each year in a manner that will maximize benefits to children and

families. Our proposal would also provide flexibility in targeting funds to quality improvements. Training and technical assistance resources have gown considerably in

recent years at a rate well above the growth of Head Start while, at the same time,

grantees have had access to quality improvement funds that provide them additional resources for these activities. These changes will allow the Secretary to determine the appropriate level of funds for these activities taking into account all the

other needs of the program and the children and families served. I would like to

turn to AIAN Head Start and share some insights into services and operations.

AIAN HEAD START

Head Start programs can be found throughout all parts of our country, from inner

city neighborhoods where violence and substance abuse are a daily part of life to

remote Alaskan villages where there are poor facilities, few jobs and limited access

to education and training opportunities. Head Start programs are embedded in some
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of the most economically disadvantaged and geographically isolated areas of the

country, including Indian reservations.

The Head Start program has provided Head Start services to Indian Tribes since

1965 when the Department funded 43 grantees in 14 States. Since that time AIAN

Head Start has grown many times and we are currently funding 165 grantees in

26 States to provide Head Start services to 23,837 children; 2,532 of whom are

served in our Early Head Start program. There are 5,587 staff working in AIAN

Head Start programs, 80 percent of whom are Native Americans; 26 percent of the

families served by AIAN Head Start programs receive public assistance and 39 percent are single-parent households; 22 percent of AIAN Head Start parents are without a high school diploma and only 4 percent have college degrees. Head Start has

long been designed as a program that can bring support and multiple opportunities

to families and children.

Head Start programs throughout the country promote school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of children through the provision of educational, health, nutritional, social and other services that enable each child to develop and function at his or her highest potential. Head Start children receive comprehensive health services, including immunizations, physical and dental exams and

treatment, and nutritional services. Over 80 percent of children in AIAN Head Start

are immunized. In addition, at least 10 percent of the enrollment opportunities in

each program must be made available to children with disabilities. Annually, MAN

grantees report between 12 and 13 percent of the enrolled children have diagnosed

disabilities.

Head Start engages parents in their children’s learning and help them in making

progress toward their educational, literacy and employment goals. The Head Start

program also emphasizes significant involvement of parents in the administration

of local Head Start programs. In fiscal year 2004, there will be increased efforts

made to assure that Head Start programs are achieving their primary purpose of

promoting school readiness—that all children, including all American Indian and

Alaska Native children, leave Head Start with the cognitive, emotional and social

skills they will need to be successful in school.

This is particularly challenging to AIAN Head Start programs since the number

of teachers with degrees is below the rest of the country [51 percent overall but only

29 percent for MAN Head Start], compounded by difficulties in recruitment and retention of qualified teaching staff in both Head Start and Early Head Start. For example, in the last Program Information Report, AIAN grantees report a turnover

of 313 teachers during the year, with 117 of those vacancies left unfilled for more

than 3 months.

Additionally, in terms of local program support for helping children achieve school

readiness, 73 percent of the AIAN grantees reviewed between 2000 and now, have

significant review findings in the critical areas of curriculum planning, implementation and individualizing for children’s learning.

Under the President’s proposal, AIAN Head Start programs will continue to be

funded directly by the Federal Government. Governed by relevant laws and regulations, each will design a program that works—one that is sensitive to the culture

and history of the families; one that respects the rich traditions of the tribe and that

recognizes the uniqueness of language and customs. HHS understands that Indian

children and families deserve special attention—that too many Indian families face

the challenges of poverty, unemployment, substance abuse, and medical conditions

such as diabetes, in significantly higher rates than in non-Indian populations.

We have tried to respond to several unique needs by making available funding

that permits many Indian programs to reach all or a substantial part of their Head

Start eligible families. For example, we have issued regulations to implement the

statutory provision which expands the ability of MAN grantees to serve children

from over-income families.

Over the past several years we have worked in partnership with the Indian

Health Service agency addressing the many health and safety concerns of Head

Start programs, concerns that are often exacerbated by environmental factors beyond the control of the local Head Start program or the community in which the

program is located.

In partnership with the Indian Health Service we are currently finalizing a Report to Congress on the overall status and condition of facilities occupied by ALAN

Head Start programs. Let me share a few of the overall findings from that report:

The on-site survey assessed 364 AIAN Head Start facilities—58 percent of the

total 624 American Indian centers.

A small majority of these centers, 52 percent were identified as being in ‘‘good’’

condition, 40 percent were in moderate condition and 8 percent were cited with

major structural or other physical problems.
31

Over 50 percent of these facilities were built prior to 1984; nearly one-third were

constructed in 1990 or later and 21 percent were built during the 1980’s.

A majority of the 364 centers surveyed, 298 facilities or 82 percent are owned by

the AIAN Head Start grantees.

We have invested over $25 million in the last 3 years for renovations and construction to improve classrooms and playgrounds as well as work and meeting space

for AIAN Head Start programs. In 2003 alone we have invested over $9 million in

these facilities, and in 2004 we anticipate funding an additional $4 million in pending requests for facility renovations and improvements.

We are also investing in new Head Start buses for AIAN Programs at a rate that

is twice the national average; because we recognize that many of these programs

must drive children many miles on roads that are often unpaved. We share these

investments with you not to say that our job is complete, but to acknowledge our

awareness and intent to address the needs of AIAN Head Start. We recognize that

we still have a long way to go to give our AIAN programs the fall support they will

need to make both a short and long-term difference in children’s lives. We are committed to doing that.

We look forward to working with this committee and with the Congress to continue to address these and other challenges. Together we must do all we can to

bring to fruition the goals and dreams of our Nation’s first families.

One of the reasons the Head Start program has remained strong over the course

of nearly four decades is that it adapts to accommodate to the changing needs of

children, families, and communities. We cannot afford to dissipate precious resources through overlapping or poorly coordinated Federal or local services. Most

importantly, we cannot afford to have children slip through the gaps that patchwork methods often create, particularly when children with the greatest need for

support continue to remain below national norms of school readiness. Children and

families deserve the best support that we can provide.

Head Start is part of our Nation’s commitment to the big idea that no child should

be left behind because of the circumstances of their families or communities. Hence,

while recognizing the important contribution that Head Start has made over the

past 38 years, we can, should and must do more, for we have not yet fulfilled the

full promise of the boldest ideas that helped to create and sustain the Head Start

program. The Administration is committed to strengthening the Head Start program and improving the coordination of services to benefit school readiness of children and the support services for families. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your commitment and dedication to the well-being of our Nation’s children, and thank you,

members of the committee, for your interest in hearing more about our proposal to

make Head Start stronger, and about some of the specific efforts that impact AIAN

programs. I look forward to continuing our dialog as we work together on the reauthorization of the Head Start program.
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