On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of legislators in Sacramento released a letter urging California’s congressional delegation to protect the embattled Head Start program and reject any proposed Trump administration cuts.
The letter, which was signed by more than three-quarters of state lawmakers, said they are “deeply alarmed” by a growing list of cuts to the federal early childhood program under the Trump administration — including the threat of total elimination — and asked that Congress “reject any proposals that weaken or eliminate Head Start.”
“That is probably the most bipartisan letter and issue that we have worked on in years, and it is all to protect and save our Head Start program,” Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens (D-Sunnyvale) said at a news conference. At least 17 Republican legislators, many representing rural areas, the Central Valley and Orange County, signed the letter.
Head Start also enjoys overwhelming public support across the political spectrum, with 74% of President Trump’s voters in support of the program, according to an April survey of more than 1,000 registered voters nationwide. The poll by the firm UpOne Insights was conducted on behalf of First Five Years Fund, which lobbies Congress on early childhood education.
California receives $1.5 billion annually for Head Start. The program provides child care, education, medical care and nutritious meals to more than 80,000 low-income children from birth through age 5 in the state and employs about 26,000 workers.
Because of recent cuts and threats, nearly 1,000 Head Start employees in California have already received pink slips, Ahrens said.
Two of the legislators who spoke at the conference — Ahrens and Assemblymember Heather Hadwick (R-Alturas) — had attended Head Start programs themselves. “I still distinctly remember eating fresh fruit for the first time in my life, because the Head Start program offers free breakfast,” Ahrens said.
In rural districts, such as Modoc, Siskiyou, and Lassen counties, “Head Start isn’t just one option among many. A lot of times, it’s the only option,” said Hadwick, who represents these areas. “I fully believe that we need to cut our budget and cut the waste. I just hope that we don’t do it on the backs of low-income, working families and our children.”
“Access to reliable early education supports parents to work or pursue training, and early childhood jobs —many held by women of color — support community well-being and economic mobility,” the legislators wrote in the letter. Already, a shortage of child-care access “is estimated to cost California “$17 billion in lost productivity and economic output” annually, they wrote, and cuts to Head Start would “exacerbate this loss.”
Last month, an early version of Trump’s budget proposed eliminating the Head Start program entirely. That proposal appeared to have been withdrawn in the “skinny” presidential budget plan released last week, but the administration has undercut the program repeatedly.
In January, an executive order to temporarily freeze all federal financial aid left Head Start staff suddenly unable to access the funds they had been promised. In February, scores of federal staffers were laid off at the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Head Start in Washington, D.C. And in April, the administration announced that five of the 12 regional offices managing relationships with Head Start grantees would be closed immediately and all employees laid off, including Region 9, which covers four states, including California.
This article is part of The Times’ early childhood education initiative, focusing on the learning and development of California children from birth to age 5. For more information about the initiative and its philanthropic funders, go to latimes.com/earlyed.
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