Trump’s first 100 days of his second term have been marked in large part by huge, sweeping budget cuts to federal programs. Associated Press (AP) reports such funding to Head Start programs across the country have lagged by nearly a billion dollars compared to this time last year. Administrative offices for the 60-year-old program have closed in New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and Seattle and from Washington to Michigan to New Jersey and beyond, Head Start programs have found themselves facing indefinite closures and uncertainty. And now, a leaked budget proposal suggests that next year, Head Start may be eliminated all together.
A 64-page document, dated April 10 of this year, was first reported by Inside Medicine and then authenticated by The Washington Post. It highlights massive structural changes to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), run by Secretary Robert Kennedy, as well as a $41 billion budget cut, including a 44% cut to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Entire offices would be either eliminated or shuffled into other agencies, including AIDS and HIV prevention programs, rural and minority health programs, and Head Start.
“The federal government should not be in the business of mandating curriculum, locations and performance standards for any form of education,” the document reads.
Head Start was established by President Lyndon Johnson as part of his “War on Poverty” in 1965. Since then it has served more than 38 million children, providing quality pre-K education, nutritious meals, and even medical and dental screenings to families that may not otherwise be able to afford any of those things. It was expanded under both George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Head Start programs serve more than 1 million children and their families each year in urban, suburban, and rural areas across the US and its territories.
“Hundreds of thousands of families depend on Head Start for their child to have a place in an early education or preschool classroom,” wrote Rosa DeLauro (D, CT), a ranking member of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee. “Eliminating Head Start to pay for tax cuts for billionaires would be an unrivaled and unthinkable betrayal of middle class, working class, and vulnerable families who need help with the cost of living. Head Start helps families make ends meet while their young children build the most basic and fundamental skills to begin their education—an education that is a requirement to reaching their American Dream.”
This is not a final budget proposal from the president, nor does he hold the power of the purse when it comes to government spending: Congress must approve any budget of a federal agency. But with a Republican majority in the House and Senate, many of whom have proven loyal to the president’s agenda, the possibility of some version of this budget becoming a reality remains.