Mercer County's Head Start director said that while she supports some of the initiatives the Bush administration proposed for the program, there are many unanswered questions and fears that Head Start will lose its dual focus on educational development and noneducational concerns such as health and families.

"The program could get watered down if the states have control of it," said Terri Lengyel.

Under the Bush proposal, states would be allowed to coordinate Head Start in place of the federal government.

Farrell was one of the first school districts with a Head Start program, one of 800 pilot programs formed in 1966, a year after Head Start was created, she said.

Mercer County Head Start serves 313 children ages 3 to 5 with 20 classrooms in all the county school districts and out-of-classroom services. Early Head Start serves 66 pregnant women, infants and toddlers.

Ms. Lengyel said Mercer County has a "strong, comprehensive program," and she would like to maintain the balance between education and other issues.

"A lot of kids are coming to school not ready to learn," she said, because of family problems, lack of food and financial difficulties.

The work Head Start does with families is very important because it helps them work with their children on school issues.

"A lot of parents, if they had a bad experience (in school) when they were young, it's going to be hard for them to help their children, unless we can change it for them," she said.

Head Start is supposed to serve "the neediest of the needy," and Ms. Lengyel said she has no indication of whether the states would have to use the federal poverty guidelines or could set other criteria.

Letting the states coordinate Head Start would add another level of bureaucracy and could take money away from local Head Start programs, she said.

Ms. Lengyel said she likes proposals to improve training and staff assistance, and noted that training is a priority locally.

In Mercer County, all Head Start staff members have four-year college degrees, and money is available to help them receive additional training. Mercer County Head Start also is accredited so that its in-house training programs count toward the state's continuing education requirements.

Mercer County is about to participate in a pilot program to create a nationwide assessment system for Head Start.