The Bush administration and House leadership are proposing to block grant the Head Start program in eight states. This means states can use federal funds for their own early-childhood education programs and would no longer have to abide by national standards.

This represents the start of an effort to dismantle a hugely popular and successful federal effort. Historically, block granting inevitably results in funding cuts. Through the combination of reducing revenue through tax cuts for the wealthy, block granting programs to states, and privatization, the Bush Administration is following through on a radically conservative effort to shrink government. To paraphrase Grover Norquist, one of the chief strategists of reducing government, the goal is to shrink government to the size that can be drowned in the bathtub. Presumably, the baby then gets thrown out with the bath water, and the country cannot provide more than the barest minimum to its citizens. For more information about actions you can take to oppose the block granting of Head Start see this site.