Give All Children Who Need It the Early Learning Benefits of Head Start? Santorum Has Voted against Head Start Expansion

Santorum's Words
“Senator Santorum has supported Head Start throughout his career in Congress.” www.ricksantorum.com – Elizabeth Santorum Unveils Web Ad Devoted to Kids and Education

Santorum's Actions
What the ad forgot to say was: “…except for all the times he has voted against it, especially when it threatened the Bush tax cuts”. Santorum said no to children in these roll call votes:

• Roll Call Vote #333, S.Amdt.1597 to S.Amdt.1542 to H.R. 2660, 9/9/2003, to increase funds for Head Start. This amendment failed 47-47 and Santorum voted against it.
  
• RCV #154, S.Amdt.700 to H.R.1836, 5/22/2001, to condition the reductions in the upper income tax rate in 2005 and 2007 on the federal government sufficiently funding Head Start to enable every eligible child access to such program. This motion failed 45-54 and Rick Santorum voted against it.
• RCV #314, H.R.4328, 10/21/1998. In this vote, the Senate provided increases for many children’s programs including Head Start, Early Head Start, child care, children’s mental health, the Community Services Block Grant, delinquency prevention, education technology, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, after-school programs, literacy, and efforts to hire more teachers to reduce class sizes. It passed 65-29 with Santorum as one of the 29 voting against it.
• RCV #71, H.CON.RES.71, 4/17/1991. This vote was for the 1992 budget resolution which provided $2.3 billion for Head Start for 1992, up from $1.95 billion in 1991. President Bush proposed $2.05 billion. The extra money approved by the House would be enough to serve 72,000 additional children, or 50,000 more than in the President's request. This passed 261-163. Santorum voted no and voted no on passage of the Labor, Heath and Human Services, and Education appropriations (RCV #383, H.R.2707, 11/6/1991) and against overriding the President’s veto (RCV #403, H.R.2707, 11/19/1991).

President Bush’s 2007 budget request provided no new funding for Head Start and, because of inflation, next year 649 fewer three and four year olds in Pennsylvania will not be able to participate and start kindergarten ready to learn. If adopted as proposed, by 2011, 4,300 fewer young children in Pennsylvania will be able to participate.

This comes at a time when Head Start is already massively underfunded. Compared to what Congress has already authorized for Head Start, Pennsylvania would receive $895,300,000 less than it was promised and 98,271 Pennsylvania children who could participate in Head Start would be prevented from doing so if the President Bush's 2007 budget is adopted .

Click below to help spotlight Rick Santorum's record in voting against Head Start and early education for the most vulnerable three and four year-olds: