ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In a recent conference call that included members of the National Head Start Association Board of Directors as well as state and regional Head Start association presidents and executive directors, NHSA Executive Director Yasmina Vinci supported an increase of $3.74 billion for FY 2011 Head Start funding.

"In order to honor the President’s pledge of quadrupling Early Head Start, these expansion funds would be divided 25 percent for Head Start and 75 percent for Early Head Start," read a NHSA recap of the call.

The $3.74 billion increase would sustain an estimated 14,080 Head Start positions and 54,667 Early Head Start positions financed under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, create almost 96,000 new Head Start and Early Head Start openings, and provide quality improvement and training for staff. The board agreed with the increase, basing their opinion on five principles:

• Head Start and Early Head Start are collectively a birth-to-five program.
• No one should do any harm to the federal program.
• Those that take care of Head Start children should be taken care of.
• No type of Head Start program should be left behind.
• Support for President Obama’s goals of expansion, program quality, and accountability.