URGENT! Republicans once again attack civil rights of Head Start Teachers and Staff!

The House is expected to take up Head Start Reauthorization (H.R. 1429) this week.
Republicans will once again try to add language to the Head Start bill allowing faith based or church affiliated Head Start programs to discriminate in their hiring practices based on an employee’s religion.

Follow me to find out what you can do to help.....

    The House is expected to take up H.R. 1429 this week. It was passed out of the Education and Labor Committee by a vote of 42-1 last month. Republicans tried unsuccessfully in committee to strip the bill of civil rights protections and allow faith based organizations to discriminate on the basis of an employee's religion.        
    A similar effort by Republicans is expected when the bill comes to the floor and these vital protections for Head Start teachers and staff must be protected.

    Here's what you can do:

1. Call the main switch board [phone] at the House of Representatives as soon as possible; ask for the office of your Representative or any of the more conservative or freshman Democrats who might need some convincing on this issue. (see talking points below)

2. Once connected, ask to speak to the legislative assistant who handles Head Start

3. Tell them you oppose any attempt to roll back civil rights legislation which protect Head Start staff.

You can use the talking points from this "Dear Colleague" letter:

Dear Fellow Freshman Colleague:

As you may know, the House will likely consider legislation reauthorizing the Head Start program, H.R. 1429, this week.  Head Start is the premiere federally funded early childhood education program, which serves nearly one million low-income children and their families.  H.R. 1429 is widely supported by a number of organizations, including the National Head Start Association.  

We were troubled to learn that there may be a Republican effort during floor consideration to repeal Head Start's civil rights protection and allow government-funded religious discrimination in Head Start programs. H.R. 1429 was passed out of the Education and Labor Committee by a vote of 42-1 last month.  A similar effort to strip these protections failed in the Committee and must be defeated when the bill comes to the floor.  The civil rights protections afforded to Head Start teachers and staffs are vital and should not be dislodged.  

We would like this opportunity to address several issues surrounding the potential Republican amendment:

The Republican language would repeal existing civil rights protections in Head Start law that ensure programs cannot use federal funds to discriminate in their hiring practices.

Religious organizations who run Head Start programs are not asking for this change and, in fact, they openly oppose it.  

Head Start teachers should be chosen because they are qualified and effective teachers who will help children succeed and thrive - hiring and firing decisions should not be made because of a teacher's religion.

Democrats strongly support faith-based organizations running Head Start programs, and H.R. 1429 specifically affirms that faith-based organizations may run Head Start programs.  Rest assured that nothing in the current Head Start law or H.R. 1429 prevents faith-based Head Start grantees from making employment decisions using religious criteria for programs run with their own money.

Again, national religious organizations, civil rights groups, national labor organizations, and the children's and education groups oppose any roll back of civil rights protections.  The National Head Start Association opposes the Republican proposal and will oppose final passage of any Head Start bill that rolls back the civil rights provision.

Please take action to help save this vital program! Thanks for your efforts!