ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, August 17, 1996 TAG: 9608190057
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ELIZABETH SIMPSON LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
NOTE: Above
THE GOVERNOR says two letters rejecting federal funds for Head Start were unauthorized and a mistake.
Two letters Virginia officials sent to the federal government in June rejected a five-year, $750,000 grant to expand Head Start programs and other services for low-income children and their families.
The refusal of funds would have made Virginia the only state in the country to turn down the money.
But Clarence Carter, commissioner of the state Department of Social Services, says the two strongly worded letters were sent without authorization of Gov. George Allen and were completely erroneous.
``Those letters were never shared with me or the governor,'' Carter said Thursday. ``We're proceeding with the grant application, and we will meet the Tuesday deadline.''
The letters rejecting the Head Start funds were sent by Elizabeth Ruppert and John Elson, both of whom worked for the Council on Child Day Care and Early Childhood Programs.
That council disbanded in June, through sunset legislation passed by the General Assembly. The council was charged with administering federal grants to improve day care in Virginia.
Three days before the agency was phased out, executive director Ruppert wrote a letter to David Lett, who coordinates the Head Start State Collaboration Project for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She said she was ``authorizing the elimination'' of the program in Virginia.
A second letter, written the same day, was sent by John Elson, who also worked for the council. Both letters were typed on Commonwealth of Virginia letterhead stationery.
Elson, who now works for the state Department of Social Services, refused to comment on the issue, and Ruppert, who no longer works for the state, could not be reached.
The letters cite several reasons for rejecting the grant, with the main one being the involvement of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Ruppert and Elson wrote that the national organization pushes a liberal agenda on the state's child-care system. They also wrote that the state did not want the block grant because the programs it supports are ``monopolistic and mandated curriculum.''
Of particular concern to Elson was the fact that the Federal Head Start Bureau mailed a book called the ``Anti-Bias Curriculum'' to every state Head Start program in 1992. The book is published by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
The book, which encourages diversity, includes a reading list of children's books. For instance, one book is about a child in a single-parent household, another about a child whose father is in prison, and another about a girl who lives with three women instead of a traditional father-mother family. Other books talked about nontraditional roles of women.
Elson wrote that few Virginia parents would ``so avidly teach alternative lifestyles and so aggressively promote multicultural values over family traditions.''
Further, both Elson and Ruppert wrote they opposed the intrusion of the federal government, calling it ``antithetical'' to state sovereignty.
The letters angered Democrats and Republicans alike and drew fire Friday from a state panel upset that officials never consulted legislators or Allen.
``I'm disturbed by what I've heard today. I can't help but question if Virginia is going forward or backward in terms of child care,'' said Sen. Stanley Walker, D-Norfolk.
Walker is chairman of the Commission on Early Childhood and Day Care Programs, a panel of legislators and child care advocates. It met Friday after The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk disclosed the letters.
However, the criticism was not unanimous. Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, called ``Anti-Bias Curriculum'' ``an assault on family values."
Del. Alan Diamonstein said the book only suggests a way to teach and that people have a right to read it. ``As Americans and Virginians, we're not going into censorship. I'm not going to deny anyone the right to read and understand,'' said Diamonstein, D-Newport News.
Sen. Jane Woods, R-Fairfax County, was disturbed that parents of children who would be in the program remained unaware that the program might not be available next month. ``Don't you think working families should be notified, since Sept. 1 is only a heartbeat away?'' she asked Carter.
Carter said the state will notify child-care centers that would be affected by the program.
``It's ironic because Virginia was one of the first 10 states that were awarded the funds five years ago,'' said Lett, whose Philadelphia office oversees the grants in six states. ``We were very surprised they turned it down. We look at it as a lost opportunity.''
Lett said the funds encourage collaboration of services among three entities - the federal government, the state government and local Head Start providers. The funding for the next five years would target Head Start coordination with several areas: health services, welfare reform programs, child-care services and education.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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