mr. chairman , i yield myself the balance of the time . 
let us make this absolutely clear . 
advice is nice . 
we just went through this in high-intensity drug trafficking areas where we tried to take the voting power away and we resisted that in congress . 
power comes from voting , not advise . 
this strips the parents of their power and lets them give their opinions . 
this is a tremendous reversal for either side of the aisle to make of the number one parent advisory program in america . 
there are not financial problems with the parent councils . 
the financial problems were with the agencies that were granted to and the boards . 
for fraud , they need to be held accountable . 
this bill does that . 
do not take the power away from the parents . 
i have also received these letters which help explain my concerns . 
dear mr . 
mark souder : my name is chris wallace sr . 
and i am a parent of 3 children . 
two of which have been enrolled and ongoing participants in cani 's headstart program , my third child is going into her 2nd grade year with adams elementary , fort wayne community schools . 
i am currently the policy council president , and the vice-president of milc ( males involved leading children ) , and my wife and i are repeatedly volunteering for cani ( in-kind ) . 
i have received the volunteer of the year award from cani , and i have also received a certificate of recognition from the city of fort wayne , for my ongoing commitments with cani . 
currently i am looking forward to another successful year with my involvement with cani , milc , and introducing milc along with all pro dads into the fort wayne community school system . 
which brings me to my disappointment with the news that some of these programs , most importantly the parent involvement initiative may be withdrawn from cani 's headstart programs . 
i would like for you and those involved with this decision to understand the importance of parent involvement . 
it has not only allowed for me to be more involved in the decisions that affect my children , it has also allowed me to be involved in some of the decisions that affect my community . 
these programs allow parents to understand more how important education , family and social development is to their family , and the community around them . 
i believe that these programs empower parents , and give them leadership skills that they may never learn elsewhere . 
i can attest to this , for i have learned many leadership , mentoring , and role model skills . 
i also have learned how important i am to the community and the development of my children , and my peers children . 
i believe it would be an injustice to take this away from so many who are currently involved and those in the future that have yet to benefit . 
please pass on our plea , meaning the parents , employees , and even more important our children , that you work for keeping the current programs well established within cani 's headstart program . 
this will continue to allow us to provide a good start to our future leaders . 
on behalf of parents of cani headstart . 
sincerely , chris wallace , sr. , september 18 , 2005 . 
dear congressman souder : i am writing to urge you to support the restoration of full authority to parent policy councils in head start reauthorization legislation . 
it is my observation that parents provided with a meaningful governing role in their children 's head start education gain valuable skills that will help them to proactively support their children 's education in elementary , middle , high school and beyond . 
the personal growth of parents involved in the head start program is a natural consequence of their participation in head start governance . 
weakening or eliminating this role will eliminate a valuable training resource for parents and will make them less effective in supporting their children 's future education . 
i have been a community representative on the cani head start policy council in fort wayne for two years . 
one of the most rewarding benefits of my participation on the policy council has been to watch the growth and development of the male involvement committee . 
this group provides many opportunities for fathers , grandfathers , uncles and other adult males to interact significantly with their children in positive ways . 
this is particularly significant in low-income communities where children need positive adult male role models . 
thank you for your consideration of these issues . 
i hope that my views will be addressed in your vote for the reauthorization of head start . 
sincerely , indiana pta , hammond , in , july 11 , 2005 . 
to whom it may concern : i am writing about the head start program and its importance to families . 
the head start program is a vital part of the education process . 
the program offers opportunities early in the lives of children to build skills that will be needed in school and in life . 
research shows that the sooner children are in a structured educational environment ; the better their performance is throughout their formal education . 
i became involved in head start in 1995 when my son entered the program and have continued to volunteer/work with head start though the years . 
i have served as a site chairperson , a member of the policy committee and currently serve as a community representative . 
it is because of the parent involvement component of the head start program that parent involvement became so important in my life . 
it is because of these beginnings that i continue to advocate for children on all levels . 
for many families , access to head start is the only way for their children to have any type of educational experience prior to elementary school . 
many of these children continue on to kindergarten because they have a head start in education and their parents realize how important early intervention is . 
since kindergarten is not mandated in indiana , many children come to school for the first time when entering the 1st grade . 
these children are not ready to work at their grade level and come to school at all developmental levels . 
as president of the indiana pta , i know how important the head start program is to children and families . 
it is critical that services like this continue and be adequately funded for our children . 
it is important that monies be made available for early intervention efforts across the board . 
if we do n't take care of our chi1dren today ... .. 
our children wo n't take care of us tomorrow . 
some of the issues that indiana pta will be focusing on are : early intervention , literacy ; parent involvement , advocacy and drug use . 
respectfully , dee jones , 