Federal Head Start reauthorized
State legislators to consider pre-K bill

President George Bush signed the Head Start reauthorization bill on Dec. 12, 2007. At that time, funding had not been finalized.

One of the new pieces in the bill is a provision that the governor of each state create a state advisory council on early education and care. This group would be charged with assessing needs across programs that serve children from birth to school-age and identifying opportunities for collaboration among federal, state and local programs.

“Under the 2010 Education Initiative, South Dakota has established a Kids Cabinet, made up of state leaders whose agencies oversee services for children and youth,” explained Deb Barnett, deputy secretary of the South Dakota Department of Education. “This group, with the addition of representatives from local educational agencies, could easily fill that role. Of course, the final call is the Governor’s, but we do have a framework already in place.”

The reauthorized Head Start Act maintains Head Start Collaboration Offices in each state to assist programs with developing local partnerships, expanding services to children, coordinating training opportunities for Head Start staff, and aligning Head Start curricula and instruction with state early learning standards.

In South Dakota, the state Board of Education currently does not have authority to establish rules for pre-kindergarten programs. The Department of Education will introduce a bill during the 2008 legislative session, which proposes to give the board that authority. Such action would establish a quality-control mechanism and lay the groundwork for statewide coordination of services.

State leaders are looking at a pre-kindergarten model under the 2010 Education Initiative. According to Barnett, any state program would be completely voluntary, target at-risk youngsters, and would be open to all pre-K providers (public, private and parochial) who meet yet-to-be-developed state standards.

A pre-K pilot program – Starting Strong Sioux Falls – was launched this fall in Sioux Falls. A partnership of the Sioux Empire United Way, Forward Sioux Falls and the State of South Dakota, the program is serving 85 three-year-olds this year. Priority is given to youngsters considered at-risk.