Trump administration overhauls Head Start, largely giving up federal control

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Set us as preferred The Trump administration is proposing a sweeping overhaul of Head Start that would largely relinquish federal control of the early learning program for low-income babies, toddlers and preschoolers.Standards, such as the number of children a teacher can supervise, would soon be under local control, leading to variations across the country, which Head Start advocates worry could diminish the quality of the program.Head Start was established in the 1960s to help fight poverty and has long been considered by early childhood education experts to be a gold standard early learning program.The changes, which must undergo a 60-day public comment period before they are finalized, are the latest in a string of attempts by the administration to alter the program, which has been a target of conservative thinkers calling for its elimination.

At the same time that the administration is stepping back from regulating Head Start, it will expand the program’s nutrition and health rules, including a requirement that children engage in 30 minutes of physical activity for every 3.5 hours of classroom instruction.Engage with our community-funded journalism as we delve into child care, transitional kindergarten, health and other issues affecting children from birth through age 5.The proposed changes will “not make any of those programs operate differently,” said Alex Adams, head of the Administration for Children and Families, which oversees Head Start and is part of the Department of Health and Human Services, in a call with reporters on Wednesday.“If their structure is working for their community and their governing board and the parents who sit on that affirm that, no changes will be needed, except in the areas where we did add new requirements.”Nationwide, Head Start serves just over 700,000 children and is funded a...