ACTION ALERT

Oppose Head Start religious discrimination

Sept. 27, 2005 - Last week, the House voted 220-196 to include an amendment in the Head Start re-authorization (HR 2123 School Readiness Act) allowing religious organizations to practice religious discrimination in the employment of publicly funded personnel. Head Start, designed to help academically disadvantaged youngsters and their families, is a federally funded secular pre-school program that operates nationwide.

Please contact both of your U.S. Senators and ask them to support the civil rights protections used by Head Start since 1972 by opposing the language incorporated into the House version of the bill by the Boehner Amendment (House Amd. 574). If this language is included in the Senate version, Head Start teachers working in programs managed by religious organizations could lose their jobs simply because of their religious beliefs, and future hires could be subjected to religious tests.

You can contact your Senators through their websites or through the Legislator/Media Lookup by Zip Code.