Sunday, April 6, 2025

WTF?

The problems for Head Start began days after President Donald Trump took office.

[...]

Scores of government employees who help administer Head Start, which is federally funded but run by schools and nonprofits, have been put on leave.

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Head Start was started six decades ago as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. While the early childhood program has enjoyed bipartisan support since then, some Republicans have emphasized its shortcomings and criticized efforts to increase funding. And Project 2025, the policy blueprint created by the conservative Heritage Foundation, called for eliminating Head Start altogether.

[...]

At least five of the 12 regional offices for Head Start were closed Tuesday as part of layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services, according to the National Head Start Association. While individual preschools’ funding remains unchanged, the association’s statement said the cuts happened without a “clear plan for how the administration intends on supporting Head Start.”

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The preschools are deeply reliant on federal money. During the brief hold on federal grants, no program was impacted more immediately. Unable to make payroll the day of the freeze, several Head Start centers temporarily closed — cutting off child care for low-income families, for whom a day without work is often a day without pay.

  AP

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