Oregon Public Broadcasting

Last month the President signed a reauthorization of the Head Start program.

The updated law, which supports pre-school programs for low-income children, adds many new requirements.

Those requirements are welcomed by Head Start advocates across the country, but as Andrew Theen reports, they say the money to carry out them out isn't there.

Head Start has been around in some fashion since Lyndon Johnson's administration.  It targets children at or below 100 percent of the federal poverty line and gets them ready for school so they don't lag behind their peers.

Ron Herndon is the chairman of the National Head Start Association and the director of Northeast Portland's Albina Head Start.

Herndon says initially he was excited by the bill, even if it fell short of his dream of full federal funding.  But then he saw the funding picture.

Ron Herndon: "So demoralizing for the head start community.  so demoralizing for staff and parents."

Herndon says Head Start actually saw a $10 million cut in funds this year.  He calls it "an outrage."

Ron Herndon: "Increased credentials for teachers and staff and priority enrollment for homeless children were supported by the National Head Start Association and local Head Start officials on the assumption that hundreds of millions of dollars needed to pay for them would be appropriated by Congress."

The reauthorization allocates $6.9 billion for this year.  That's more than the previous year, but Herndon says that doesn't factor in cost of living increases, or the cost of implementing the new requirements.  He said now Head Start advocates are forced to ask for a supplemental funding increase of over $300 million.

Dell Ford: "I think it's terribly lacking."

That's Dell Ford, the director of the Oregon Head Start Collaboration Program.

Oregon is one of 17 states that provides additional funding to Head Start programs.

Ron Herndon said Head Start programs in Oregon are "very forunate" because of that fact.

Last year Governor Ted Kulongoski appropriated an additional $39 million for Head Start across the state.  Ford says the new bill jeopardizes Oregon's plan to add more children to the program.

Dell Ford: "I don't think it will even cover the cost of living for local programs.  And it definitely won't support adding more children."

Head Start currently serves about 900,000 low-income families nationwide.  That's about 40 percent of the population that qualifies for Head Start.

Ron Herndon says the current funding level likely means cutting hours and services.  And he says it adds to a funding situation that has been lagging behind inflation for years now.

The cumulative shortfall, Herndon says, amounts to one billion dollars.