From an editorial in the Waco Tribune-Herald, on the Bush administration's attack on Head Start:

Educators across the country are voicing alarm over an administration plan to effectively convert Head Start from a federal program to one run by states through block grants. Opponents see this as the end of Head Start. Principally, they worry that states, facing immense fiscal pressures, are not good candidates for entrusting the highly successful pre-kindergarten program.


And though an administration official has threatened Head Start professionals with sanctions for complaining in this fashion, it's clear the critics will not shut up. [Emphasis mine.]


The threat came in a letter from Windy M. Hill, associate commissioner of the Head Start Bureau. She said that those who speak out against the block-grant plan could be cited under the Hatch Act, which restricts political activities by civil servants.


Political activities? Well, everything is political when it comes to government. But we're talking about public policy.


Imagine, someone telling child development professionals they can't talk about child development. We exported free speech to Iraq and imported tyranny to the Department of Health and Human Services.