Head Start reauthorized, expanded to more families

A central front in the Great Society’s War on Poverty when it was created in 1965, Head Start provides grants to public and private agencies to care for low-income children 5 and under. Over the years, some have questioned its effectiveness in preparing children for school and taken issue with its $6 billion annual budget. The program is fighting for federal funding as President Bush and Congress negotiate a spending bill for many domestic programs. Head Start was also reauthorized this week by Congress for the first time in almost a decade with measures to expand the program to more families. Read the article in The Chicago Tribune’s Web edition.