Head Start supporters were relieved when President Donald Trump did not include funding cuts to the early education program in his proposed 2026 budget, released May 2. But that does not mean Head Start will emerge from budget negotiations unscathed.
Saving head start
This is Part I of a two-part package examining the challenges facing Head Start. Watch for Part II tomorrow.
The program, run locally by schools and nonprofit organizations, serves more than 750,000 children nationwide from low-income families, from birth to 5 years old. It also offers dental screenings and free school meals for children, and child care and job support for parents.
Head Start has been targeted by Trump since his first term, when he tried to cut its funding by 25%. Earlier this year, the administration indicated it wanted to eliminate all funding — $12.3 billion — for the 60-year-old program. Supporters fear cuts could still come.
“There is still significant concern around Head Start funding,” said Melanee Cottrill, executive director of Head Start California. “While the president’s skinny budget does not eliminate the Head Start program, it also does not propose an actual funding level. We have a long way to go in the budget process, and Head Start funding could still be reduced.”
Cuts would impact child care, jobs
California Head Start programs expect to receive $1.5 billion in federal funding for the 2025 fiscal year. That funds services for 73,476 children at 2,219 sites, according to an EdSource analysis of Head Start data.
“Ultimately, if Head Start were to be defunded, we would have 80,000 kiddos without care and 26,000 employees without jobs,” Cottrill said. “Of course, those 80,000 parents who just lost their child care would potentially also lose their jobs, their ability to go to school, to do all the things that they’re doing to try and become more productive members of the society.”
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, full-day child care costs between $6,552 and $15,600 a year, which is prohibitive for many families.
The current lack of access to child care costs California about $17 billion in lost productivity and economic output each year, according to state legislators in a letter to California members of Congress last month urging them to protect Head Start.
“Cuts to Head Start would exacerbate that loss,” the letter stated.
Lifting families out of poverty
Job opportunities for parents could also be lost if counseling and job training provided by Head Start go away.
Many teachers in the Head Start program operated by the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency (SETA), for example, started their careers in the program’s apprenticeship program, while earning required early childhood education credits and a college degree.
Timeisha Seymore credits Head Start for helping her attain an associate degree and a full-time job as a registered behavioral technician at a local elementary school. Seymore took classes, provided by SETA, in the same building that houses the Sharon Neese Early Learning Center that her two children attend.
If the Head Start program closes, Seymore said she would lose her child care and might have to pay for child care, cut her work hours or quit her job to care for her children.
Funding is problematic
Uncertainty over continued funding of the program — including a temporary freeze of federal funding in February — resulted in some California staffers receiving notices warning them they could lose their jobs, Cottrill said.
The program employs 26,000 people in California and 250,823 people nationally.
Unreliable funding is particularly concerning for Head Start programs, which receive five-year grants that must be renewed annually. Programs work on a reimbursement model that requires them to submit receipts and invoices. Programs can only draw down three days of funding at a time, Cottrill said.
“So that’s where these programs — if those draws are delayed — are having challenges,” Cottrill said. “And these draws have been delayed for some folks because there is a new requirement that they add additional justification to the draw-down request, but there hasn’t been any guidance.”
At least four Head Start programs have closed because of funding uncertainty, including programs in Washington, Wisconsin, New York and Florida, said Tommy Sheridan, deputy director of the National Head Start Association.
Shuttering regional offices
Head Start programs were affected again in April when the Trump administration closed five regional offices of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, which administers the program, and laid off its staff. Program leaders had no one to answer questions about their grants or how to fill out new required forms.
California programs are still seeing the detrimental effects of regional office closures, especially when processing specialized supplemental grants, Cottrill said.
Two California Head Start programs with grants up for renewal on May 1 didn’t receive their grant letters until April 30, Cottrill said. One program director was on her way to fire her staff when the letter arrived.
The uncertainty is making Head Start employees nervous.
“I think we have a very dedicated staff, who put their heart and soul into working in this program,” said Karen Griffith, deputy director at SETA. “So, I don’t think people want to leave, but I hear the anxiety in their voices and in their questions.”
Head Start has its critics
Support for Head Start has been strong over the years, but recently, it has been criticized by some who say the program isn’t effective and that some programs do not appropriately supervise children. The conservative Heritage Foundation has called for its elimination as part of its Project 2025.
Going Deeper
May 2017 – President Trump proposes cutting Head Start funding by 25% for fiscal year 2018, but Congress increases it by $610 million instead.
January 2025 – The Trump administration freezes Head Start funding temporarily.
February – A federal website temporarily malfunctions, locking some centers out of funding.
April- The Trump administration indicates it wants to eliminate all federal funding for Head Start.
April – Mass layoffs in the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, which administers Head Start, results in the closure of five regional offices.
May 2 – President Trump’s proposed budget does not include cuts to Head Start.
– Associated Press
The Head Start Impact Study, published in 2019, and often cited by critics, found that the academic gains of Head Start diminished by third grade. The findings have been disputed by other researchers, however.
The initial research didn’t consider the impact of Head Start on children being cared for in a suboptimal environment, said Ariel Khalil, a professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, nor did it take into account research that shows that positive effects can emerge beyond third grade.
The value of Head Start depends largely on the needs of the student and their family, Khalil said.
“If you come into the Head Start program, and you have a very rich home environment and your parent has already taught you many of the things you’re going to learn in Head Start, maybe Head Start doesn’t have the biggest added value,” she said. “ But, as you can imagine, there’s lots of variation in the home environments of children who participate in Head Start.”
Research shows that the positive Intergenerational impacts of the program include higher educational attainment, lower participation in crime and higher employment, she said.
“If you don’t account for these long-term impacts, you’re really undervaluing the value of this program.” Khalil said.
Supporters fight back
Allies lined up in support of the program last month, after a leaked early draft of the president’s proposed budget showed the elimination of Head Start.
National Head Start leaders rallied alumni, parents and program staff, asking them to email members of Congress to urge them to protect the program. About 300,000 heeded the call, Sheridan said.
On April 28, parents and Head Start providers teamed up with the American Civil Liberties Union to file a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services. The suit asked the court to stop the defunding of Head Start and to set aside department actions that could contribute to the program’s demise, including the layoff of Health and Human Services staff and the closure of regional offices.
Last week, after the release of the final proposed budget, Sheridan said he is optimistic that Congress will prioritize Head Start, given its historical bipartisan support and its impact on children and their families.
Regardless, Head Start leaders continue to lobby legislators and to encourage supporters to send emails urging their support. The National Head Start Association hopes to collect 100,000 signatures on a letter to Trump urging him to protect and invest in Head Start. The letter had more than 50,000 signatures last week, according to Sheridan.
California Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens, D-Sunnyvale, was among a bipartisan group of state legislators that sent a letter to California members of Congress last month, asking them to protect the program. Three-quarters of the state’s legislators signed the letter.
“I think we are very much on guard,” said Ahrens, who had his first taste of fresh fruit and visited a doctor for the first time as a Head Start kid in San Jose.
Last week, Ahrens suggested lawmakers work together to make state and federal budgets more efficient, instead of targeting programs aiding the poor.
“We’re not going to be able to balance the national debt on the backs of poor children, on the backs of working families,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.