Head start's fate is uncertain.

Congress is still dabbling with the federal Head Start program and is already getting unhappy reviews.

A bill from the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, proposed last fall, increases funds for Head Start and is to be debated soon in the Senate. Democrats claim the Senate bill is a step above the House of Representatives bill because it preserves direct federal funding of early education programs, as opposed to channeling money through states, according to The Washington Post.

The latest bill comes after the Bush administration proposed to revamp the Head Start program last year. Head Start has served more than 21 million poor preschoolers since its birth in 1965. The Bush administration supports the House bill.

Meanwhile, the National Head Start Association is unhappy with both bills because the group says neither bill increases teacher salaries while mandating B.A.'s for teachers. The average Head Start teacher's pay was $21,000 in the 2000-01 school year, compared to $43,000 for public school teachers. "Everyone supports the goal of higher degrees for Head Start teachers, but it is a cruel trick on Head Start teachers to create a mandate for higher educational achievement and then not provide the money to achieve it," says NHSA President Sarah Greene.