Fresh Wave of Head Start Centers Told to Recompete for Aid

The announcement that a new wave of more than 100 Head Start grantees will need to recompete for their federal funding has redoubled attention on the federal government's efforts to ensure the effectiveness of the $8 billion preschool program that serves about 1 million low-income children.

The 122 grantees notified this month that they would be part of the "designation renewal" process join 132 others that learned in December 2011 that they would have to compete for funds that, in some cases, they have managed for decades.

The results of that first competition have not yet been announced; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' office of Head Start has the option to take money away from current grantees and distribute...