The Trump administration has proposed major changes to Head Start, the early childhood education program aimed at giving low-income children access to education. The plan is being advanced by the Department of Health and Human Services, and it has drawn a mix of support and pushback.
Head Start has been in effect in the United States for 60 years, and the administration is now hoping to reshape it. According to the department, the proposal is built around five separate rules that would change how programs are run and overseen.
The first rule puts parents front and center as their children's primary teachers, using local parent committees to help shape the learning curriculum. The second rule says programs must provide healthy whole food meals and set minimum daily exercise standards to help young children build lifelong habits.
A third rule focuses on spending. It would cut administrative costs, which according to the Department of Health and Human Services would save the federal government $2.2 billion and allow the program to expand by as many as 236,000 Head Start slots.
The remaining rules deal with oversight and red tape. The fourth would remove federal mandates and allow states to have more control over the Head Start programs, while the fifth aims to cut out repeated regulations, with the department saying the proposal simplifies the text without changing any laws.
Not everyone is convinced the overhaul would help. Advocates with the nonprofit Children at Risk spoke out about their concerns, warning that if there is not investment in strong leadership and the systems that support quality programs, those programs will suffer, and that when programs suffer, families and children suffer.
The group argued that Head Start cannot be asked to deliver a comprehensive, high quality program while the resources it needs to operate are taken away, adding that children are simply children regardless of whether their families are in a blue, red or purple state. The Department of Health and Human Services is accepting public comment on the proposal for a 60 day period that ends on October 5.