A Biden-era policy that would have raised the average Head Start worker’s salary by about $10,000 in the coming years is officially dead.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Friday it has finalized its rollback of a two-year-old rule that required larger Head Start programs to raise their workers’ pay to match that of local public school pre-K teachers by 2031.
In a notice to be published Monday in the Federal Register, the agency said rolling back the wage requirements “restores flexibility to local Head Start programs and improves access for children and families by removing the costly requirements added in 2024.”
The Biden administration’s rule, which it finalized in August 2024, was a response to historically high turnover at Head Start programs following the pandemic.
In October 2023, 15 percent of Head Start program staff positions were vacant, according to a survey of program operators by the National Head Start Association. In 2022, Early Head Start programs, which serve the youngest children, saw roughly 3 in 10 staff members leave, according to an analysis of federal data by the Urban Institute.
Staff shortages were preventing Head Start programs from serving the full number of children for whom they had slots, the Health and Human Services Department said at the time.
The agency also acknowledged that without additional funding, the higher wage requirements could translate into slots for about 110,000 fewer children. The rule allowed federal officials to waive the new rule for program operators if Congress didn’t increase Head Start funding by more than 1.3% by 2028.
HHS wanted Head Start pay to match that of public pre-K teachers
Head Start, which began 61 years ago as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty, serves children up to age 5 from families living below the poverty line. Its $12 billion annual budget in recent years translates into slots for about 700,000 children.
The 2024 rule required Head Start programs with more than 200 student slots to raise wages by 2031 to match local school districts’ salaries for pre-K teachers, or 90% of what local kindergarten teachers make in districts without public pre-K.
Smaller Head Start programs had to show progress in raising workers’ pay, but didn’t face the same requirement as their larger counterparts.
The agency at the time estimated the requirement would raise the average Head Start teacher’s pay by $10,000. The average Head Start teacher salary in recent years was less than $40,000 nationally and lower in some states, according to the Urban Institute.
The average public school teacher salary by comparison, exceeds $70,000, according to the National Education Association’s annual tracking.
Head Start preschool teachers generally must have at least an associate’s degree in child development or a related field.
Comments called for higher pay, flexibility for Head Start programs
The Trump administration proposed rescinding the new wage requirements in May.
It said in the Federal Register notice that the proposal attracted nearly 300 public comments, with some saying that Head Start teachers deserve higher pay and others stating that program operators should have flexibility to determine staff pay on their own.
Canceling the wage requirements “removes a burdensome unfunded mandate that would impact programs’ ability to continue operating at current levels and would have necessitated laying off staff,” the Health and Human Services Department said.
Agency officials also emphasized that removing the requirements didn’t mean Head Start programs couldn’t raise staff pay on their own. Programs have made some progress since 2024 toward raising teacher pay, according to the agency.
“This final rule reflects trust in Head Start program leaders to run their programs, value staff, and make decisions on staff compensation given the local context and on their own timeline,” the agency said in response to public comments.
Head Start programs are dealing with broader instability
The Health and Human Services Department’s cancellation of the wage policy comes as the agency’s proposal to more broadly roll back Head Start’s quality standards—including requirements for low student-teacher ratios, family support services, and comprehensive health screening—is still pending.
The agency has also characterized that change as a move to boost flexibility for Head Start programs and expand access.
Head Start programs have also dealt with a range of disruptions to their operations since the start of the second Trump administration, including delayed funding disbursements; new review processes to crack down on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives; and a plan to block undocumented immigrants from enrolling. Federal judges have prevented the latter two changes from taking effect.
Rolling back the new wage requirements well in advance of 2031 will prevent programs from having to make additional changes, the Health and Human Services Department said in the Federal Register notice.
The agency “anticipates that most programs have not yet undertaken substantial implementation efforts, given that multiple years remain before compliance is required,” the notice says.
