The Trump administration announced on Thursday that it would move forward with a plan to eliminate hundreds of federal regulations governing Head Start, in what advocates fear is a push to gut a 61-year-old antipoverty program aimed at helping the nation’s most impoverished young children.
The proposed plan, detailed in earlier reporting by The New York Times, would remove most of Head Start’s 133 pages of federal requirements for math and literacy curricula, class sizes, medical screenings, home visits. Even a requirement that children brush their teeth after meals would end.
Administration officials say the changes will save money by lifting onerous requirements, serve more children by increasing class sizes, and give states and municipalities more control in how the program is run. Critics say the changes will gut the core components of a singular institution that has served 30 million young children with high classroom standards and more health and antipoverty services than most states provide.
Head Start was launched 61 years ago as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty, and a key figure in its early design and creation was Sargent Shriver, an uncle of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary leading the push to deregulate the program. It provides early education and poverty support services for children up to age 6.
In a statement, Mr. Kennedy said the changes would honor his uncle’s legacy.
“My uncle, Sarge Shriver, founded the program on a simple conviction: strong families, wholesome nutrition, and healthy childhood development can change the course of a child’s life,” he said. “Today we are returning Head Start to those roots, 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.”
Health and Human Services Department officials claimed that the changes — particularly the lifting of rules on small class sizes — would allow Head Start to serve up to 236,000 more children than the 700,000 it does today. They also said that stripping away requirements such as classroom curricula, or rules that require Head Start staff to ensure that students have dental exams, would save about $2.2 billon. And they noted that the proposed changes would also include new requirements for children’s physical activity and nutrition.
Advocates for the program said the changes would wipe out the distinctive features and benefits of Head Start.
“Head Start works because it does far more than provide preschool,” said Joel Ryan, director of the Washington State Association of Head Start. “It ensures children receive health care, developmental screenings, nutritious meals, disability services, highly qualified teachers, and strong partnerships with families. Those aren’t bureaucratic requirements — they are the reason Head Start has changed millions of lives. This proposal would weaken those protections for hundreds of thousands of children and undermine what has made Head Start one of America’s most successful early childhood programs.”
The Health and Human Services Department is expected to post the proposed changes on the Federal Register in the coming days. They will then be open to public comment for 60 days, and could still be changed and amended before being finalized in the coming months. The changes are expected to be implemented in Head Start classrooms sometime in 2027.
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