The Trump administration is preparing to dramatically overhaul Head Start, the nation’s premier early education program for low-income children, by stripping away most federal quality standards and leaving implementation decisions to individual states, according to people familiar with the proposal.
The overhaul, formally titled “Modernize the Head Start Program by Reducing Requirements and Enhancing Alignment with State and Local Systems,” was drafted by the Department of Health and Human Services and sent to the Office of Management and Budget for review. The proposed rule could be formally introduced as early as next week and finalized by year’s end.
The administration is proposing to rescind the bulk of Head Start’s 133-page set of performance standards, replacing them with a far shorter framework that leaves implementation largely up to states and local governments. Gone would be federal requirements on class sizes and staff-to-child ratios, academic curriculum standards in literacy and math, mandatory health and dental screenings, home visits, protections for children with disabilities, accommodations for homeless families and children in foster care, and even a requirement that children brush their teeth after meals. The existing prohibition on corporal punishment would also disappear, along with detailed guidance on when children can be suspended or expelled.
The sweeping changes mark the administration’s latest effort to reshape Head Start after earlier attacks on the program. Earlier this year, the administration attempted to bar certain immigrants from enrolling in Head Start, an effort blocked by a federal judge. In May, the administration proposed rolling back higher wage and benefit levels for Head Start teachers established under the Biden administration, calling those requirements “costly and overly prescriptive.” The administration also closed several regional Head Start offices and, in a leaked 2025 budget draft, proposed eliminating Head Start’s funding entirely.
Head Start currently serves more than 700,000 children on an annual budget of approximately $12.4 billion. The program was created in 1965 and provides free preschool education, meals, and health screenings to low-income families. The new proposal would represent the most significant deregulation of the program since its creation nearly six decades ago.
The administration justifies the changes as necessary to shift power to states and local communities. According to internal budget documents, the administration proposes “to allow individual state standards to apply to programs, including licensing and monitoring standards, health and safety requirements, child-to-staff ratios, and definitions of quality.” Officials argue these changes would allow the program to serve more children with existing levels of funding.
However, critics warn that the proposal would fundamentally compromise program quality. Research shows that child care quality, as measured by the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale, is generally higher in Head Start centers compared to non-Head Start settings. State licensing and monitoring standards for child care vary enormously across states and, in many cases, are far weaker than Head Start’s requirements.
Several states have child-to-staff ratios that are significantly higher than what Head Start allows. Higher ratios could mean less individualized attention, fewer meaningful interactions per child per day, and weaker outcomes, particularly for children with disabilities and dual language learners who need more intensive support. Health and safety requirements under Head Start are substantially more rigorous than most state licensing standards. Head Start requires health screenings, vision and hearing assessments, dental exams, immunization verification, and mental health consultations within specified timeframes after enrollment. Most state child care licensing regimes require none of these or require them on much looser timelines.
The proposed changes would also reverse improvements made under the Biden administration aimed at improving Head Start teacher compensation. The 2024 final rule required Head Start providers to set teacher wages that correlate with public preschool teacher salaries, which would average about $10,000 more per year than current levels. That requirement was set to go into effect in August 2031. Another part of the 2024 rule mandates that Head Start programs provide full-time staff with health care coverage, paid leave, and behavioral health services by August 2028.
Head Start educators, despite holding equivalent degrees and certificates to public school teachers, are paid 30 to 40 percent less than their counterparts. In the 2024-2025 school year, Head Start teachers earned an average salary of about $46,380. Among those with bachelor’s degrees, the average annual salary was just over $48,000, far less than the average annual salary of a K-12 teacher at $74,459. In fact, many Head Start teachers earn wages so low that they qualify for the same government aid programs as their students’ families. Because Head Start wages are so low, a high rate of educators and staff inevitably quit every year. In 2025, the turnover rate was as high as 41 percent in some locations.
The proposed rule comes as conservative Trump allies continue pushing to dismantle Head Start. Project 2025, a document crafted by conservative groups during the Biden administration to guide the next Republican president, called for eliminating Head Start entirely. In early 2025, the Trump administration seriously considered releasing a budget proposal that called for the program’s elimination before relenting and releasing a budget proposal that kept Head Start funding at current levels.
The proposed rule could face legal challenges. Several of its provisions appear to contradict the Head Start statute and a 2007 reauthorization that mandates that standards not eliminate or reduce quality. That statute was last revised nearly 20 years ago under President George W. Bush, at which time Congress directed the Office of Head Start to keep issuing regulations to continuously improve the program.