Head Start has been teaching our children and getting them well prepared to enter kindergarten. Parents have been an important role in program governance and are engaged as partners in their children’s education.

Performance standards include over 2,000 separate rules and principles for local programs related to issues such as classroom structure and use of curriculum, family involvement, management systems and collaboration with other early childhood programs. Head Start provides staff and parents with ongoing training on implementing these standards.

Head Start has been a symbol of this nation’s commitment to helping secure a better life for low-income children and families. More than 20 million children have benefited from Head Start’s comprehensive child and development services, and the program has served as a national laboratory and model for early care and education.

Head Start exists because at-risk children need comprehensive services in order to become “school ready.” Head Start and Early Head Start programs work hard and offer an array of services, with a strong emphasis on pre-reading skills, mental and physical health screenings, immunizations and nutritious meals.

Government must leave Head Start alone. Head Start works!

Kim R. Shannon, Bethel