Rally to protest Head Start switch

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Friday, Jan. 17, 2003 | 9:33 a.m.

Clark County parents whose children receive preschooling, health care and nutritional assistance through Head Start were to rally today in downtown Las Vegas to protest proposed changes to the federally funded program.

President Bush is expected to announce during his State of the Union address next week that the 39-year-old program will be moved from Health and Human Services to the Education Department. The move is designed to re-affirm Head Start's purpose in preparing children for success in kindergarten, particularly with literacy, federal officials have said.

But many people question the move, noting that Head Start has always been about comprehensive services and assistance for low-income families, not just literacy programs.

"Head Start has always been about empowering the whole family," said Tiffini Perez, who leads Clark County's Head Start Policy Council, which oversees 17 centers and more than 1,700 children. "That means screening children for hearing losses, making referrals to social services or helping parents find a GED class so that they can get a better job."

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said she doesn't want to see Head Start's comprehensive programs sacrificed by the move. Giunchigliani said she is working on an education bill for the upcoming legislative session that would increase the number of Nevada children eligible for Head Start, a program she called one of the most successful in the state.

"If the agenda for moving it to the Department of Education is that there will be better outreach or better efficiency, I want to see the arguments backing that up," said the former special education teacher. "If they're moving it just to make a statement of some sort, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense."

Head Start educators have also expressed concern over plans by federal officials to begin testing 4-year-old participants. Centers that fail to show progress face losing funding.

Clark County's Head Start centers already test and track student performance, although the new federal requirements will be a more formalized process, said Diana Goff, who coordinates the programs for the county's Economic Opportunity Board.

The rally was scheduled from 12:30 to 2 p.m. outside the George Federal Building, 333 Las Vegas Blvd. South.