The Trump administration is asking Congress Eliminate funds for Head Start, Moves to cut early education to raise children for the country’s poorest children and families of over 500,000 people.
The proposal is hidden in a 64-page internal draft budget document obtained by the Associated Press. Deep cut at the Ministry of Health and Human Services, which oversees Head Start. It is still in a very preliminary stage as the White House prepares to send its 2026 budget request to Congress.
It is not clear whether the proposed cut will be accepted by lawmakers. Congress often ignores the president’s budget requests, but the proposed exclusion of Head Start highlights the administration’s priorities as President Donald Trump We are aiming to overhaul our education In the US.
According to the draft, “the budget doesn’t fund a head start.” Eliminating the programme is in line with the Trump administration’s “goal of returning education control to the state and increasing parental control.”
“The federal government should not be left to businesses that require curriculum, location and performance standards for any form of education,” the document states.
A spokesman for Health and Human Services declined to respond to a request for comment.
Since taking office in January, the Trump administration has Dismantling the Ministry of EducationI have it Prohibited Diversity Initiatives Schools have frozen in several elite universities. Forced changes at universities Republicans say it has become a hotbed of liberalism and anti-Semitism.
The Head Start program was already a hit this year due to layoffs Funding delayedalong with this winter glitch, we easily locked our kindergarten providers from our federal accounts. Private and public schools that run Head Start classrooms are heavily dependent on federal money, and this year’s fundraising issues have caused some Kindergarten temporarily closes.
These closures cut off childcare for hundreds of thousands of low-income families, and a day without work Often, an unpaid day.
The National Head Start Association said it was “deeply wary” by the administration’s proposal to halt funding the program six years ago.
“It reflects our future divestment,” NHSA executive director Yasmina Vinci said in a statement Thursday. “Eliminating funds for Head Start is devastating. It will be a direct attack on the most at-risk children in our country, their happiness and their families.”
Head start is More than kindergarten programssaid Vinci. It provides diet and health screenings and helps level the arena for children who may fall behind before starting kindergarten. Many Head Start children are either foster parents or homeless.
Due to delays in fundraising to start in January, several HeadStart kindergarten classrooms have been closed. The federal government is distributing $1.6 billion for a head start from January 1st to Tuesday, but D-Wash. According to Senator Patty Murray’s office, compared to $2.55 billion issued at the same time last year. Federal Database. Murray said the Trump administration had “slow walk” funds allocated by Congress.
“The administration doesn’t think it’s possible to afford families to get kindergarten or help their children get basic health services, but it does think they can afford trillions of dollars with billionaires’ tax cuts,” Murray said earlier this week. “It’s offensive, it’s just wrong, and let me clarify. Democrats won’t let such proposals go anywhere in Congress.”
“But that doesn’t mean head start, and it doesn’t mean that many other programs are not under serious threats, because Trump has proven that he ignored our laws and did everything he can to break these programs himself,” Murray said.
Head Start works in all 50 states. Otherwise, parents who can’t afford to buy childcare rely on it when they work or go to school. Supporters say they emphasize the importance of economics and the start of the minds of children at risk.
Headstart has enjoyed bipartisan support since its founding under the war of poverty by President Lyndon B. Johnson, but some Republicans have highlighted its shortcomings and criticised its efforts to increase funding. Project 2025 is a blueprint for policies created by a conservative heritage foundation, calling for the elimination of Head Start entirely.
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AP education writers Cheyanne Mumphrey and Moriah Balingit contributed.
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