Head Start faces new worries about its future with Trump, GOP

Supporters of Head Start are worried about the program’s future as it faces Trump administration calls for budgetary cuts ahead of the next school year.

The free, federally funded program for low-income families provides education for infants through preschoolers and had enjoyed bipartisan support for most of its 60-year history.

But worries are mounting for both Head Start staff and parents.

The Project 2025 blueprint calling for deep federal cuts proposed Head Start’s elimination, and while calls to cut its budget have diminished, advocates don’t feel the program is safe.

The administration also is looking at enrollment changes that could impact students lacking permanent legal status who are covered by Head Start.

“A lot of people have called this death by a thousand cuts, what we've seen in the past six months,” said Casey Peeks, senior director of Early Childhood Policy at the Center for American Progress.  

Head Start seemed to escape the worst possible fate after a report earlier this year by USA Today that said the White House was ready to adopt the Project 2025 blueprint and eliminate it.

Despite the fears, President Trump’s final proposal didn’t include an increase or decrease in Head Start funding. It kept the program at the same funding level as last year.  

Other early preschool programs, Preschool Development Grants and the Child Care Access Means Parents in Schools, were cut in the budget.  

Still, the flat funding could hurt as more families seek to use Head Start in an era of rising costs.

“We do have concerns that flat funding ... would equate as a cut to Head Start and Early Head Start programs, given cost of living, inflationary costs, as well as just higher costs of operating services, the needs to be able to provide a competitive wage in order to have staff,” said Tommy Sheridan, deputy director for the National Head Start Association.  

A report last week released by the Government Accountability Office found a temporary funding freeze to Head Start at the beginning of the administration was illegal. The move put programs into chaos, and some even briefly shut down during the pause. 

While funding was mostly spared, Head Start has watched the Trump administration target staff and enrollment changes. 

In April, around 50 percent of staff at the Office of Head Start were cut and all staff at regional offices of Head Start were fired. 

“We're also seeing a lot of chaos and panic among Head Start staff. They don't know if their jobs are as secure as they once were, which is really causing a problem, because it's not just Head Start, but across the early childhood sector there is a workforce shortage and these types of concerns, lack of reliability, it really doesn't help with the retention issues that are already a problem in normal circumstance,” said Peeks.  

The latest curveball thrown at Head Start was a notice from the Department of Health and Human Services that said undocumented students can no longer participate in the programs.  

The directive did not come with any clear instructions, sending programs into confusion as immigration status was never considered in Head Start’s history. 

Twenty Democratic-led states filed a lawsuit against the directive while the federal government argued it “ensures that public resources are no longer used to incentivize illegal immigration.” 

“There’s still a lot of confusion about what exactly it means, and we’re encouraging people not to take action until there’s more guidance or clarity on who exactly it affects and what the Head Start programs are required to do,” said Melissa Boteach, chief policy adviser for Zero to Three.  

“But I think an important point is that it has a chilling effect, regardless, and that if you're [an] immigrant family, regardless of what your status is in terms of legal permanent residence, or mixed status family or refugee or whatever it is, you're legitimately scared of sending your child to an Early Head Start or Head Start program,” she added.  

Some fear this is just the beginning of an effort to go after the program despite previous bipartisan support, including during the first Trump administration. In Trump’s first four years in office, Head Start received funding increases and greater support, especially at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

There are signs the program could come under more pressure from Republicans who say Head Start has not been accountable enough in how it has spent money.

Days after Trump came into office, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce highlighted a report by the Government Accountability Office regarding abuse and negligence in Head Start programs, including child safety concerns and lack of oversight over classroom materials.  

“These programs continue to suck up millions in taxpayer funding without serious accountability or oversight. We have an obligation to protect these children and end this gross negligence immediately,” Committee Chair Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) said at the time.

Proponents of Head Start argue there is data to show it helps lower crime rates, reduces health care costs and increase tax revenue.

“This is proof of the effectiveness of Head Start, and the effectiveness and the impact of the investment that Head Start has been making,” said Sheridan.

“And so, we believe that there's really no sound reason to interfere with that, and we believe that Congress and the administration should come together and really commit to building on the 60 year of bipartisan support that Head Start has had, and double down on that fundamental commitment that our country has made to children and to our collective future.”