Washington, DC —The Trump administration today proposed rolling back vital Head Start quality and safety standards, taking another step toward the Project 2025 goal of fully abolishing the early education program. 

The proposal — the latest in the administration’s sustained campaign to undermine Head Start — would reduce the number of Head Start teachers, weaken staff and teacher credentials, eliminate health and mental health services, and reduce supports and services for children with disabilities and developmental needs. 

“This proposed rule would eliminate Head Start’s high standards, potentially putting the early learning, health, and safety of our youngest children at risk, and placing the future of the entire program in jeopardy,” said Whitney Pesek, senior director of federal child care policy at the National Women’s Law Center. 

“The administration’s attacks on Head Start are not random. They are part of a coordinated campaign to advance the goals of Project 2025, which seeks to abuse executive power to push women out of public life. For more than 60 years, Head Start has provided foundational early education to millions of our most vulnerable families, giving children the foundation to succeed. It also provides support to help parents, including many mothers, get jobs and remain in the workforce. We will not stand by while this administration tries to dismantle one of our nation’s most successful investments in children and families.”

To speak with an expert about the proposed rule and its impact on children, families, and Head Start providers, please contact [email protected].

For further reading on the Trump administration’s attacks on Head Start, see below: 

• Attacks on Head Start are Part of a Sustained Strategy to Undermine Progress for Families with Low Incomes: A Timeline of the Trump Administrations Efforts to Eliminate the Program [NWLC]

• Head Start Survives Trump Elimination Threat But Remains at Risk Thanks to Project 2025 [NWLC]

• Child Care and Early Education for Children With Disabilities and Their Families: Key Policies and Programs [NWLC]

• The Group Behind Project 2025 Has a Plan to Break Child Care [NWLC]

• The Trump Administration’s Ongoing Attacks on Child Care & Working Women [NWLC]