When the House takes up an early childhood development program Wednesday, the emotionally charged topic of allowing providers to hire employees based on religious preference will be off-limits.

The vote to reauthorize the Head Start program (HR 1429) will be done under a structured rule, leaving a dozen amendments open for floor debate.

But an amendment on hiring preferences, which was defeated at a House Education and Labor Committee markup in March, was not allowed by the Rules Committee.

Sponsored by Del. Luis Fortu??o, R-P.R., the amendment is of particular interest to the White House, which issued a statement of administration policy Tuesday opposing the bill in its current form.

Among other concerns, the administration said it “strongly encourages” the House to amend the legislation to include religious hiring autonomy for faith-based organizations.

“The administration believes that such provisions should be applied to all federally funded social service programs so faith-based organizations may operate on an equal level with every other organization competing to provide services,” the statement reads.

Aaron Albright, a committee spokesman for the majority, said Democrats “find it unacceptable to use federal dollars to allow religious discrimination.”

But several other amendments will be in order.

Georgia Republican Tom Price will get a second opportunity to propose a pilot project for eight states to take over their local Head Start programs. The committee rejected the amendment, 18-27. That provision helped stall reauthorization in the 108th Congress after it was narrowly added to the House’s Head Start bill.

An amendment by Florida Republican Adam H. Putnam would allow for re-competition of Head Start grantees every five years. It also would strike a provision that would establish an expert panel charged with creating a process through which a Head Start agency’s ability to provide a quality comprehensive early learning program would be evaluated.

Another amendment, by Jon Porter, R-Nev., would require criminal background checks covering all jurisdictions where a grant recipient provides Head Start services to children, a record check required by the law of the jurisdiction where the recipient provides Head Start services, or a criminal record check as required by federal law.

The Head Start measure, sponsored by Dale E. Kildee, D-Mich., would reauthorize the program for the first time in almost a decade, boost authorized funding to $7.4 billion for fiscal 2008 and such sums as necessary through fiscal 2012. It also would require at least 50 percent of Head Start teachers to have a bachelor’s degree by 2013.

The last Head Start reauthorization, enacted in 1998 (PL 105-285), expired in 2003. It has been extended by annual appropriations since then. The program received $6.9 billion under the fiscal 2007 spending law (PL 110-5).

The Education and Labor Committee approved the measure 42-1, on March 14.

Adrianne Kroepsch contributed to this story.

First posted May 1, 2007 6:48 p.m.