Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) on Wednesday praised the signing into law of legislation to reauthorize the Head Start program, saying it would help level the playing field for low-income students when they start school.

“Head Start expands the opportunity for more American young people to grab hold of our nation’s dream that anything is possible,” said Alexander, who attended today’s White House ceremony where President Bush signed the measure into law. “Reauthorizing Head Start ensures that more children will be able to start school ready to learn and eventually set high goals for themselves. This makes an already good program better by making it more accountable, more financially solvent and more focused on meeting the purpose for which it was intended- giving disadvantaged children an equal opportunity.”

In February 2007, Alexander joined Senators Kennedy (D-MA), Enzi (R-WY) and Dodd (D-CT) in introducing legislation to reauthorize the Head Start program. Alexander was the author of a provision in the bill to establish 200 Centers of Excellence around the country to serve as model Head Start programs. This provision helped serve as the basis for a bipartisan compromise after years of debate in which members of Congress were unable to reach final agreement.

In June, the Senate unanimously passed the bill to reauthorize Head Start. Alexander served as a conferee on the committee to reconcile the House and Senate versions. The legislation, previously approved by the House of Representatives, passed the Senate last month by a vote of 95 to 0.

Alexander, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee responsible for the reauthorization of Head Start, supported program improvements that are a part of the final bill, including:

· The creation of 200 new Centers of Excellence that will serve as model Head Start programs across the country, and help provide examples of how to efficiently coordinate State, local, and federal efforts in early childhood education. These Centers of Excellence would be nominated by the governors, and each Center of Excellence would receive federal bonus grant of at least $200,000 in each of 5 years.

· The establishment of clear authority to Governing Boards to administer – and be held accountable for – the 1,700 local Head Start programs, while ensuring that parental Policy Councils continue to play an important role:

· The development of a system of renewal for all existing Head Start agencies in order to ensure a high level of quality.

Head Start has grown to a nearly $7 billion federal program that has served more than 900,000 children. Last year the program served 20,000 Tennessee students with $118 million in federal funding.