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Florida Today - Our view: Wrong again

It boggles the mind.

Despite the need to give low-income pre-schoolers an early academic boost, Congressman Dave Weldon voted no Wednesday on a bill to improve the federal Head Start program.

To understand how out-of-touch he is on the issue, consider this:

The bill passed the House 381-36 with Congressman Tom Feeney, the Space Coast's other GOP representative, supporting it. It passed the Senate 95-0. President Bush is expected to sign it.

Making the slapdown worse, Weldon recently rejected expansion of the SCHIP health program to more than 3 million children and pregnant women from families that can't afford it now.

The Head Start bill would phase in upgraded teacher qualifications, allow more kids from families just above the poverty level to enroll, and increase programs for very young, migrant and Native American children.

Barbara Moore, president of the Child Care Association of Brevard that provides services to poor kids and their families, is "rejoicing" over the passage. But she's understandably frustrated with Weldon.

"I just can't reach Weldon about the importance of early intervention for children," she says. "We write to him constantly and get no clear answers" to his objections.

The Indialantic Republican says he voted no because he wanted the bill to let pre-schools reject potential employees based on their faith.

Fortunately, most in Congress don't believe in that kind of discrimination, so thousands more pre-schoolers will get help they need -- no thanks to Weldon.