Head Start

Alliance for Community Empowerment, Director of Early Learning Tanya Lloyd, right, interacts with a child in the Head Start program on Sept. 28, 2023, in Bridgeport, Conn. Head Start programs serving more than 10,000 disadvantaged children would immediately lose federal funding if there is a federal shutdown, although they might be able to stave off immediate closure if it doesn't last long.
Tanya Lloyd, director of early learning at the Alliance for Community Empowerment, interacts with a child in the Head Start program on Sept. 28, 2023, in Bridgeport, Conn. More than 100 Head Start programs that are due to receive their annual federal funding allocations on Nov. 1 could go without that funding if the federal government is still shut down.
Jessica Hill/AP
Early Childhood 100-Plus Head Start Programs Will Go Without Federal Funds If Shutdown Drags On
The programs were due to receive their federal funding allocations Nov. 1.
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, October 23, 2025
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4 min read
River Yang, 3, looks out the window of a school bus as it prepares to depart the Meadow Lakes CCS Early Learning, a Head Start center, on May 6, 2024, in Wasilla, Alaska.
River Yang, 3, looks out the window of a school bus on May 6, 2024, as it prepares to depart the Meadow Lakes CCS Early Learning, a Head Start center in Wasilla, Alaska. Head Start providers nationwide are contending with intermittent funding delays and policy changes that have upended the program for much of its 60th anniversary year.
Lindsey Wasson/AP
Early Childhood Head Start Confronts More Funding Disruptions and Policy Whiplash
Program operators have struggled to draw down routine funding, and puzzled over how to comply with confusing policy directives.
Mark Lieberman, August 11, 2025
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11 min read
Students help put away supplies at the end of a reading and writing lesson at the Head Start program run by Easterseals, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government on Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami.
Students put away supplies at the end of a lesson at the Head Start program run by Easterseals on Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami. The Trump administration reclassified Head Start as a "federal public benefit" similar to welfare so it can bar undocumented students from the early childhood program, but the policy is now on hold in 20 states and the District of Columbia.
Rebecca Blackwell/AP
Law & Courts Trump Admin. Pauses Ban on Undocumented Kids in Head Start in These States
The administration said July 10 that undocumented immigrants were newly ineligible for a range of federally funded services.
Brooke Schultz, July 28, 2025
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2 min read
Teachers Deimy Labrador, top, and Emily Ledesma read with children in an Early Head Start class supporting kids with developmental delays at Easterseals South Florida, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami.
Teachers Deimy Labrador, top, and Emily Ledesma read with children in an Early Head Start class supporting kids with developmental delays at Easterseals South Florida, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami. Head Start grantees in Florida and across the country now have questions over how these programs will work moving forward under new restrictions barring undocumented students from enrollment.
Rebecca Blackwell/AP
Federal Head Start Grantees Scramble for Clarity on Undocumented Students Rule Change
While Head Start programs across the country operate as business usual for now, a lack of guidance over a policy change raises questions.
Ileana Najarro, July 23, 2025
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5 min read
Students ride tricycles during aftercare at a Head Start program run by Easterseals, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government, Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami.
Students ride tricycles at a Head Start program run by Easterseals, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government, on Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami. The Trump administration has reclassified Head Start as a "federal public benefit" similar to welfare so it can bar undocumented students from the early childhood program. Twenty-one attorneys general are now suing over that policy change.
Rebecca Blackwell/AP
Law & Courts States Sue Over Trump's Ban on Undocumented Youth in Head Start, Early College
The cost of compliance is so high, the lawsuit argues, some Head Start programs could be forced to close.
Matthew Stone, July 21, 2025
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4 min read
Children play during aftercare for the Head Start program at Easterseals South Florida, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government, on Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami.
Children play during aftercare for the Head Start program at Easterseals South Florida, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government, on Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami. The Trump administration said Thursday that undocumented children are ineligible for Head Start and a number of other federally funded programs that the administration is classifying as similar to welfare benefits.
Rebecca Blackwell/AP
Federal Trump Admin. Says Undocumented Students Can't Attend Head Start, Early College
The administration issued notices saying undocumented immigrants don't qualify for Head Start and some Education Department programs.
Brooke Schultz, July 10, 2025
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7 min read
Education Week opinion letters submissions
Gwen Keraval for Education Week
Early Childhood Letter to the Editor Why Head Start Remains a Smart Investment for America
Full funding of Head Start is about strengthening our nation’s social and economic fabric, says this letter to the editor.
June 10, 2025
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1 min read
An aerial view of a maze made up of 100 dollar bills with two clay figures. One looks like Trump with blond hair and in a blue suit with a red tie and he's waving to another white business man in a suit walking away from him.
iStock/Getty
Education Funding The Big Questions About Trump's K-12 Budget Proposal, Answered
Trump is proposing to cut billions of dollars in K-12 investments, consolidate grant programs, and potentially rejigger special education law.
Mark Lieberman, May 5, 2025
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13 min read
A student participates in a reading and writing lesson at the Head Start program at Easterseals South Florida, Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami.
A student participates in a reading and writing lesson at the Head Start program at Easterseals South Florida in Miami on Jan. 29, 2025. The organization gets about a third of its funding from the federal government. Supporters of President Donald Trump's plan to cut Head Start say it's ineffective. Advocates say they are oversimplifying key research.
Rebecca Blackwell/AP
Early Childhood Trump Allies Say the Case for Head Start Is Weak. Researchers Say They're Wrong
Head Start critics oversimplify research to justify calls for its closure, researchers said.
Evie Blad, May 1, 2025
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9 min read
Willow Palmer, 5, at right, comforts classmate River Yang, 3, as he sits in the safe place nook at the Meadow Lakes CCS Early Learning, a Head Start center, May 6, 2024, in Wasilla, Alaska.
Willow Palmer, 5, at right, comforts classmate River Yang, 3, as he sits in the safe place nook at the Meadow Lakes CCS Early Learning, a Head Start center, on May 6, 2024 in Wasilla, Alaska. Since the start of the Trump administration, Head Start programs have had difficulty accessing their funding and have lost many of the federal contacts they worked with due to layoffs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Now, they're anticipating a budget proposal from the White House that eliminates funding for the early childhood program.
Lindsey Wasson/AP
Education Funding Trump Wants to Gut Head Start. He's Already Begun
More than 800,000 students would lose access to early childhood education if Trump's draft budget proposal is enacted.
Mark Lieberman, April 28, 2025
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11 min read
A child's block toy school house is partly disassembled. Field of loose blocks in the foreground. Representing losing Head Start programs.
iStock/Getty Images + Education Week
Early Childhood Opinion The Trump Administration Is Sabotaging Head Start
Early-childhood education is being dismantled right in front of us. The quiet crisis comes with a heavy cost.
Yolanda Wiggins, April 24, 2025
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5 min read
Two 5 year old children sitting at a table in preschool playing with colorful toys. The boy is connecting flexible tubes, and his friend, a girl, is wearing a crown made of tubes her head.
E+/Getty
Education Funding Dozens of Head Start Programs Still Aren't Receiving Promised Federal Funds
Some providers of pre-K and child care have waited more than a week for federal reimbursements that typically arrive in 24 hours.
Mark Lieberman, February 5, 2025
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11 min read
Preschool teacher with kids sitting nearby while she reads a book.
iStock/Getty
Early Childhood Head Start Teachers Will Earn More—But Programs Might Have to Serve Fewer Kids
A new federal rule will raise wages for Head Start employees—but providers won't get any additional funding.
Mark Lieberman, August 22, 2024
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7 min read
A multi-ethnic group of preschool students is sitting with their legs crossed on the floor in their classroom. The mixed-race female teacher is sitting on the floor facing the children. The happy kids are smiling and following the teacher's instructions. They have their arms raised in the air.
E+/Getty
Early Childhood As Head Start Quality Push Continues, Advocates Raise Red Flag on Equity
Inadequate federal funding forces Head Start providers to choose between quality and quantity, a new report contends.
Evie Blad, December 1, 2022
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2 min read
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