April 5, 2002
President's Early Childhood Education Initiative Hits the Mark
By Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-New Hartford)
Head Start and Early Head Start are comprehensive child development and education programs that serve so many families in our area. From Utica-Rome to Binghamton, and from Delhi to Dolgeville, and points in between, literally thousands of our children have benefited from these programs for many years. And America is better for it. Few things come close in importance to providing a quality education for our children.
When President Bush announced a new initiative to improve early childhood education for millions of America's youngest children, I was pleased.
The initiative includes training the nearly 50,000 Head Start teachers in the latest and best teaching techniques, ensuring that pre-school programs are more closely coordinated with state K-12 education goals, and improving the information available to parents about the best practices in early childhood development.
A new accountability system to ensure that every Head Start center assesses standards of learning in early literacy, language and numeracy skills will be implemented. A national training project with the goal of training Head Start teachers in the best pre-reading and language teaching techniques for young children is a priority.
The states are to develop quality criteria for early childhood education, including optional guidelines on pre-reading and language skills activities for pre-school age children ages that align with state K-12 standards. To help states meet these criteria, the President's plan gives states more flexibility with their federal child care funds.
Also, in order to close the gap between the best research and current practices in early childhood education, the Department of Education will implement a broad public awareness campaign targeted toward parents, early childhood educators, childcare providers, and other interested parties.
All of the above is proposal. But a lot of action has already been completed.
These initiatives will complement the new "No Child Left Behind" law, which increases overall federal education funding in New York to more than $3.5 billion (nearly $468 million more than last year and 36 percent more than 2000 levels).
Congress has appropriated nearly $170 million for three science and math education initiatives I authored as Chairman of the House Science Committee. The bills – the National Mathematics and Science Partnerships Act, the Noyce Scholarship Program and the Tech Talent bill will allow our nation to make significant progress in the important task of improving K-12 math and science education and helping to ensure that we have a skilled and competitive workforce.
The Math and Science Education Partnerships will bring scientists and mathematicians in the nation's colleges and universities together with local school districts, and the business community, to draw upon the expertise of each in crafting innovative ways to improve K-12 math and science education. I was proud to work closely with the President's education team on this legislation.
I will continue to support efforts in Congress to strengthen education in our communities. At all levels of our nation's education system, we are working to give local schools more flexibility in the use of federal education dollars while enhancing their accountability at the same time.