Protect Head Start and Early Childhood Education

High quality early childhood education supports young children’s healthy development and yields long-term benefits from reduced teen pregnancy rates to higher wages. Head Start, a free childcare program serving nearly 800,000 low-income children, and universal preschool programs ensure all young children have the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive. Head Start is an essential social safety net program that fosters healthy child development and provides other services from food assistance to developmental screenings. Despite early childhood programs’ clear benefits to child health, the Trump administration has issued budget guidance proposing the complete elimination of federal funding for Head Start and cuts to federal funding for state preschool programming.

Head Start’s elimination, an explicit goal of Project 2025 would devastate the children, families, and communities who rely on this program for both high-quality education and childcare. Federal funding freezes have already forced many Head Start programs to close and lay off staff.

The Trump administration’s budget guidance is just that—guidance. It is not yet law. Now is the time to pressure your members of Congress to reject Trump’s Project 2025-driven agenda and protect access to high-quality early childhood education for all.