WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Bush administration rejected calls for the resignation of Windy Hill, the administrator of the National Head Start Bureau, amid allegations that she was involved in questionable financial practices while running a Head Start program in Texas between 1993 and 2002, the Washington Post reported.

Over the past two years, Hill has drawn attention to abuses in the preschool program, citing numerous examples of financial mismanagement and excessive salaries by Head Start directors. A lobbying group representing local Head Start programs yesterday released records of an independent audit that accused Hill of receiving undocumented bonuses and vacation pay.

The president of the National Head Start Association, Sarah Greene, told the Post that the Department of Health and Human Services is "hushing up" the alleged abuses by Hill while "trashing" Head Start programs around the country. Assistant Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Wade F. Horn, who oversees the National Head Start Bureau, described the attack on Hill as "mean-spirited and unwarranted."