The federal Head Start office announced last December that 132 of the roughly 1,600 providers failed to meet the new standards and must compete for funding for the next fiscal year. Providers cited for "recompetition" include the two largest Head Start programs in the nation, administered by the Los Angeles County Office of Education and the New York City Administration for Children's Services.

Providers designated to recompete are concerned they are at a disadvantage, but Health and Human Services spokesman Kenneth J. Wolfe said the designation is not an "adverse action," and that those organizations "are fully eligible" to compete for funds. The agency is expected to announce grant winners in late summer.

The $7.6 billion Head Start program began in 1964 as part of the federal "war on poverty" and now enrolls almost one million infants, toddlers, and preschoolers from low-income families. Funding increases for the program continue unabated despite a 2010 government report that concluded enrollment in the program makes no significant difference in a child's academic performance by the end of first grade. Worse still, during the same year a Government Accountability Office undercover operation found that eight of the fifteen Head Start centers investigated committed fraud.

President Obama's proposed 2013 budget increases program funding to $8 billion. (Education Week, 11-16-11 and 2-22-12)