Health · Head Start · ArchiveTrump Plan: Gut Most Head Start Rules, Only 2 Federal Mandates Left for 700,000 KidsAired August 7, 2026 at 2:29 PM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00The Trump administration is proposing to0:02eliminate virtually all federal0:03regulations that govern Head Start, the0:05early education program for 700,000 of0:08the nation's [music] poorest children.0:09700,000 children, the poorest in the0:12country, rely on Head [music] Start for0:14early education, including critical0:16wraparound services that go beyond the0:18classroom. The overhaul is being driven0:20by President Trump and Health and0:22[music] Human Services Secretary Robert0:24F. Kennedy, whose nutrition provisions0:26are one of only two new federal0:27requirements [music] in an otherwise0:29sweeping deregulation. Under the0:31proposal, the current 15% [music] cap on0:33administrative expenses drops to 5%,0:36while standards for low staff-to-student0:38ratios and requirements for family0:39services, the [music] backbone of0:41support for children facing0:42homelessness, foster care, or0:43disability, would be eliminated0:45entirely. [music]0:46A homeless preschooler doesn't just need0:48a teacher, she needs a family services0:50worker who can connect her parent to0:51housing. [music]0:52A disabled child whose classroom loses0:54its ratio protections may lose the0:56individual attention that makes early0:57learning possible. [music] These0:58services aren't abstract. They're the1:00mechanism that carries the federal1:02promise to the child. Early childhood1:03policy experts argue deregulation could1:06undermine Head Start's role [music] as1:07the gold standard in early education.1:10The administration frames it as1:11flexibility, [music]1:12returning authority to communities.1:14Critics call it a dismantling of quality1:16guardrails that have [music] defined the1:18program for decades. The public now has1:2060 days to weigh in before any changes1:22take effect. [music] Legal challenges1:24are expected. What remains unresolved is1:26whether the comment period [music] and1:28the courts will preserve the federal1:29standards that have defined Head Start1:31for decades,1:32>> [music]1:32>> or whether 700,000 children will enter a1:34redesigned program built on local1:36discretion and exactly two federal1:38rules.Explore with HeyDexThe shortThe short ↗