BY SUSAN TEBBEN
Child advocates in Ohio and nationally have said proposed changes to the federal early childhood education program Head Start would be “devastating” and eliminate important health and safety standards for children.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced a new rule to reduce the “federal burden” for Head Start programs.
In an announcement by the agency, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., said that with the change, “we are removing unnecessary bureaucracy, strengthening nutrition and physical health, trusting parents and local communities, and opening Head Start to hundreds of thousands of children.”
The agency estimates the change would save the federal government $2.2 billion, with caps to “administrative overhead” and reductions in “compliance-driven activities.”
Under the proposed rule, which is still in its public comment period, the states would be given the responsibility of overseeing education requirements, background checks, transportation matters, and class sizes and ratios.
“The goal is to modernize safety standards by replacing rigid federal mandates with state flexibility and practical, competency-based alternatives,” the HHS release stated.
Head Start began six decades ago as part of a “war on poverty” launched by President Lyndon Johnson, aimed at helping children from low-income households obtain the education needed to start their development.
In 2023 data released by child advocacy group Groundwork Ohio, 5,900 of Ohio’s infants and toddlers were enrolled in Early Head Start, which serves children up to three years old.
Through Early Head Start, more than 128,000 home visits were conducted in that year, according to the data. The Ohio Head Start Association said programs across the state serve more than 26,000 children up to age five.
The proposed changes would eliminate federal requirements regarding “curriculum implementation, parent committees, family engagement procedures, and service delivery structures,” according to the language of the draft rule.
Julie Stone, executive director of the Ohio Head Start Association, said eliminating the federal standards mentioned in the rule would mean taking away developmental screenings, teacher qualifications, and mental health services, among other things.
“If the way we serve more children is by putting more infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with each teacher, we have to ask honestly what those children are losing,” Stone said in a statement.
“Young children need individual attention, qualified teachers, and the comprehensive supports that prepare them to succeed in school and life.”
Currently, Head Start requires teacher-to-child ratios of 1-to-4 for classrooms with children under the age of three, 1-to-8 for three-year-olds, and 1-to-10 for four-year-olds.
Those ratios are based on evidence and an expert consensus that “pre-K quality is higher, and children are safer, and develop more when there are reasonable limits to the number of young children per staffer in the classroom,” according to the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University.
“Substantial research demonstrates that maintaining low child-to-teacher ratios is critical for positive interactions and learning gains, meaning any weakening of Head Start ratio standards poses direct threats to child safety, development, and overall program effectiveness,” the institute said in a recent brief.
Moving the requirements to match state-by-state standards would mean Ohio Head Start classrooms would have one educator for every five children up to age one, and a 1-to-6 ratio for children aged one year to 18 months.
For children 18 months to 2.5 years, the teacher-to-child ratio in Ohio is 1-to-7, and 1-to-8 for students aged 2.5 to three years.
Classes with three-year-olds can have one teacher for every 12 children, and those with four and five-year-olds can have a ratio of one teacher for every 14 kids, based on data from the federal Administration for Children and Families.
National organizations like the Children’s Defense Fund, the National Center for Learning Disabilities and others, signed on to a letter urging the Trump administration to rescind the proposed changes, and for Congress to reject them as well.
The letter said the changes would “gut the Head Start program” and remove the “high-quality standards” that exist within the program, such as small class sizes, teachers trained in multiple languages, and medical screenings for school readiness.
“These quality standards are the hallmark of the Head Start program that ensure every child receives an early education and services that promote health child development,” the letter stated.
“Without them, Head Start will exist in name only, offering unequal services based on where the child lives.”
The organizations also said the proposal would make it more difficult for children with disabilities, and those experiencing homelessness to enroll in the program, along with disproportionately affecting minority children.
Stone said the Ohio Head Start Association will be working with its Head Start and Early Head Start network “to ensure Ohio’s experience and Ohio’s voice are heard.”
“Head Start has spent 60 years building a model around what young children and their families actually need,” Stone said. “We shouldn’t call it cutting red tape when what we’re really cutting is quality.”
The public comment period for the proposed rule-change ends Oct. 6.
