The Trump Administration, which has promised to dismantle the Department of Education, has come after higher education—freezing funding for elite universities and revoking international student visas. Now, it’s targeting early childhood education.
As the White House prepares to send Congress its 2026 fiscal year budget request, a 64-page internal preliminary budget proposal obtained by the Washington Post, according to an April 16 report, revealed plans of deep financial cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), accounting for roughly a third of the department’s discretionary budget.
Among the programs targeted for cuts is Head Start, which has for 60 years provided comprehensive early childhood education and care for low-income families. “The federal government should not be in the business of mandating curriculum, locations and performance standards for any form of education,” the document reportedly explains.
The plan to fully eliminate Head Start, which was among Project 2025’s controversial policy blueprint and first reported to be in the Trump Administration’s upcoming budget proposal earlier this month by USA Today, would impact about 750,000 children, according to the nonprofit National Head Start Association (NHSA), and has been met with strong backlash from Democrats.
Here’s what to know about the program.
Head Start’s history and effectiveness
Since the program began in 1965 under President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War on Poverty,” Head Start has promoted school readiness and development for over 40 million children from birth to age 5. Besides education, its free services also include meals, medical and dental screenings, and social assistance. Families eligible under federal poverty guidelines must apply to the program to receive the benefits.
During its launch, Johnson called the program, which was then under the Office of Economic Opportunity, “one of the most constructive, and one of the most sensible, and also one…
