In a move that critics warn will strike at the “heart” of the nation’s early childhood program for children in poverty, the Trump administration announced plans to dismantle the federal regulations that have defined Head Start for decades.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s announcement Thursday of a new proposed rule for Head Start that would strip away mandates for low-student-teacher ratios, family support services, and comprehensive health screening, was met with immediate backlash from advocates of the federal program. Head Start currently provides health, parenting, and early education services to more than 700,000 low-income children from birth to 5 and mothers, beginning during pregnancy.
Language in the proposed rule promises to “rescind and replace the Head Start Program Performance Standards” with ones that would “significantly reduce Federal bureaucratic burden on programs.” Separately, Kennedy’s department has already proposed rolling back required wage increases for Head Start employees.
“We are removing unnecessary bureaucracy, strengthening nutrition and physical health, trusting parents and local communities, and opening Head Start to hundreds of thousands more children. That’s how we renew the promise of Head Start for the next generation,” Kennedy said in his announcement.
Long-term advocates and administrators of the program don’t see it this way.
“At first glance, these proposed changes might not seem so terrible. But as you dig deeper into it, what we will find is that there really are a lot of changes that will impact what is the heart of Head Start,” said Yvette Sanchez Fuentes, senior vice president for government relations and research at Start Early, a national early learning advocacy organization.
Reducing standards
The Health and Human Services press release announcing the proposed rule called the program’s current federal rules unnecessary and said that they “drive up provider costs, stifle innovation and constrict the early childhood workforce.”
But the hallmark of what makes Head Start successful, say advocates, is its stringent standards, such as those in its preschool program. The proposed changes would replace them with standards that align with state’s childcare licensing standards.
Fuentes cautions that the rule changes would remove the standards around quality teaching and learning—replacing current Head Start classroom requirements around group size and staff-to-student ratio requirements with state childcare licensing standards that aren’t as stringent and, Fuentes said, would be worse for children’s safety and development.
“Without clear, high standards, families lose the assurance that Head Start means the same thing everywhere, and taxpayers lose a clear measure of impact that Head Start funding should have,” said Selena Cirillo, the president of Start Early.
Megan Woller, executive director of the Idaho Head Start Association, said that Head Start’s current standards, from quality controls to safety requirements, have been embedded in the program for decades, and are a large part of why parents and communities trust the program to keep their children safe while they learn.
Administrative cap could lead to across-the-board cuts
The proposal’s recommendation to cut Head Start programs’ administrative budget, from 15% to 5%, is also raising alarm.
Alex J. Adams, assistant secretary at Health and Human Services, said the cap will save the government $2.2 billion, which can be reinvested in the program, subsequently creating thousands more spots for children.
Head Start advocates disagree with that logic.
“At 5%, I don’t know how you could produce quality services,” said Lori Morrison-Frichtl, executive director of the Illinois Head Start Association. “Losing staff is going to be an issue.”
Morrison-Frichtl also pointed to the myriad of underlying costs that allow the program to run effectively—including buses to transport children to preschool, human resources support that allows the program to do background checks on job applicants, repair funds for when refrigerators or other appliances break—and that may not be feasible with administrative cuts.
Eliminating bilingualism support
The new proposal would require all classroom instruction be conducted in English, except for immersion programs operated on Native American tribal lands.
An estimated 30-35% of children enrolled in the Head Start program are dual language learners.
“Idaho’s largest Head Start program is our migrant and seasonal program that works with the families that help our agricultural industry flourish. The flexibility to provide services in Spanish promotes parental participation and builds trust,” said Idaho Head Start Association’s Woller.
Quieting parent voices?
The proposed changes could also affect one of the most unique facets of Head Start: its high level of parent engagement, which extends to the program’s governance. The proposal suggests changing parents to “advisors.” Currently, they have a direct say in programming.
Parents are elected to their Head Start program’s local policy council, which gives them the authority to help make programmatic decisions. This arrangement dates to the 1970s and remains a part of every Head Start agency’s shared leadership structure.
“In Idaho culture, parents are regarded as their child’s first and most important teacher. The Head Start Performance Standards promote this belief by allowing parents to be collaborators in their program’s governance. The proposal removes power from parents,” Woller said.
Lori Pittman, a Head Start parent-turned-parent advocate in Washington’s Puget Sound, says that the opportunity Head Start gave her to take on a leadership role helped give her the confidence to return to school, earn a degree, and develop a career supporting other families and children and programs in Head Start.
“Parents vote on budgets. Parents vote on program design. Parents are part of every piece of a program today,” said Pittman, who credits Head Start with helping to lift her family out of poverty.
