This paper consists of a transcript of the testimony of the Director of Early Childhood Services at the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) before the U.S. Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources on April 21, 1994. The testimony addresses the issue of improving the connections between early childhood programs and public schools. The testimony indicates that the NASBE is increasingly concerned with the challenges of creating a more seamless, comprehensive, equitable system of early childhood and family support services and linking those programs to the public education system. The testimony focused on three points: (1) early childhood programs make a positive difference in the skills, knowledge, confidence, and social capacities of children and families; (2) public schools fail to sustain this positive momentum when children and parents move into kindergarten and the primary grades; and (3) full advantage should be taken of current legislative reforms in Head Start and Title 1 programs to create incentives for more effective partnerships between schools and early childhood programs. (SD)