mr. speaker , for the purpose of debate only , i yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from florida ( mr. hastings ) xz4001701 , pending which i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
during consideration of this resolution , all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only . 
the resolution before us provides for a structured rule for the consideration of h.r. 2123 , the school readiness act of 2005 , and makes a good number of important amendments in order and will provide for a full and wide-ranging debate on all the aspects of the head start program . 
mr. speaker , h.r. 2123 was passed out of the committee on education and the workforce unanimously . 
it reauthorizes the head start program for fiscal 2011 . 
at the same time , the bill incorporates a number of wide-ranging and widely supported commonsense improvements to head start which will improve teacher education standards , increase the accountability for the use of funds , and enhance outreach to the most deserving students . 
the underlying bill does not include provisions which were deemed by some controversial in the base text , such as providing hiring protection for faith-based head start providers . 
instead , the rule does provide for this and other items to be debated and voted upon separately so that the house may work its will and the final outcome will reflect the views of the majority of the members , which is an understandable approach . 
the head start program has provided comprehensive early childhood development services to low-income and disadvantaged children since the mid-1960s . 
today , almost 1 million students are involved in head start . 
the head start program is good . 
in some places the head start program is great . 
i do not want to be a little bit parochial here , but being well acquainted with those involved in head start in my particular area , they do a great job and i am very proud of my association with them . 
but in each of these situations , the program still could be better . 
for that purpose , this bill focuses or attempts to focus the academic program more clearly in particular areas . 
they put greater emphasis on language skills , prereading , premath , and cognitive skills . 
they insist that any new money above and beyond the funding skills , 60 percent of that be tendered only to teacher quality , which is where that emphasis needs to be . 
the head start program is administered by the department of health and human services and is accomplished through grants that directly go to applying entities . 
the head start program has been largely successful because the head start program is locally designed and they are administered by a network of 1 , 600 public and private nonprofit and forprofit agencies at the local level . 
because of this local emphasis , educators can tailor their approaches to fill the specific needs of the populations they serve , instead of a one-size-fits-all approach that too many other federal programs , including other federal education programs , have . 
especially important is this particular thing , that in the text of this particular bill it puts a greater emphasis on tying head start programs to a state 's curricular standards . 
to be a priority grantee in the head start program , they have to show a pure correlation to a state 's curriculum standard . 
this is for the benefit of the kids coming through the system . 
of increasing specific importance to me is the local tie-in that is demanded by this particular bill . 
the head start programs have to demonstrate an active support in trying to tie their programs into local school districts . 
this is essential in the long run if you want to have a smooth transition between head start and the local schools . 
too often programs running contrary to that simply have a disconnect ; and , therefore , there is not local support for these programs . 
this bill recognizes that is a serious problem and a serious error and attempts to try to bridge that gap by insisting that head start programs work closely with their local school districts to provide a seamless entry for those kids going through head start into the regular school programs in the states where they are . 
the gao was critical of some financial management standards of the head start program . 
to solve that without losing the purpose of head start , which is to help disadvantaged kids prepare for school , they have increased the element of competition within the program . 
the competition that will be new in this particular program will drive improvements in head start ; at the same time it will meet the needs of a recommended financial management that the gao suggested . 
by looking for and rewarding success in head start programs and also looking for and punishing deficiencies in any 5-year cycle , there is an element to try to improve this program , taking a program that is good and great and in every situation making it indeed better . 
there are also within this guarantees that there is a guaranteed share of the money that will go to native american programs , migrant and seasonal workers , the most disadvantaged of the groups that head start is trying to help and assist , who will never be placed at a disadvantage in the overall process . 
in addition to that , this bill removes certain flawed techniques of evaluation that have been standardly used by the head start program and replaces them with something that is more scientifically based . 
the rule that is currently before us provides for important amendments and policy discussion , and it is a very fair rule . 
in addition to a manager 's amendment , the chairman of the committee who recommended this bill recommended four amendments , two by republicans and two by democrats . 
the committee on rules instead , in addition to the manager 's amendment , recommended 11 additional amendments , five by republicans , six by democrats . 
i commend the gentleman from ohio ( mr. boehner ) xz4000360 and the sponsor of this legislation , the gentleman from delaware ( mr. castle ) xz4000700 , for their hard work in placing this bill before the house ; and i urge all of my colleagues to support this rule . 
mr. speaker , i reserve the balance of my time . 
