Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
Like scattered billiard balls, 16 Early Head Start children scampered across a rubber-matted playground in Southwest Philadelphia last week.<\/p>\n
Vigilant for tumbles or conflicts, four teachers calmly monitored the 1- and 2-year-olds in their high-energy frolic at an early learning center run by KenCrest<\/a>, a nonprofit that operates Head Start and other programs in seven neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia.<\/p>\n Head Start\u2019s low ratio of one teacher for every four toddlers is a hallmark of standards for the 61-year-old federal program that provides free education, health, nutrition, family support, and daycare services for low-income children from birth to age 5. <\/p>\n But now, advocates say, Head Start risks being eviscerated by changes proposed by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n The vaunted teacher-child ratio, along with other foundational principles that make Head Start unique, is being threatened by plans to \u201cderegulate\u201d the program \u2014 overhauling the way it operates by eliminating more than 1,400 regulatory mandates that dictate how the program is administered.<\/p>\n \u201cWe could be going to two staff members for 25 toddlers and two for 30 older kids,\u201d said Melanie Brennan, executive director of early learning programs at KenCrest.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019ll bathroom time look like?\u201d<\/p>\n The Trump administration defends its proposed changes as the building blocks for a better Head Start, which serves 700,000 low-income children nationwide, including an estimated 7,500 in Philadelphia. <\/p>\n \u201cWe are removing unnecessary bureaucracy, strengthening nutrition and physical health, trusting parents and local communities,\u201d said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose department administers<\/a> Head Start at the federal level. <\/p>\n That does not ring true to Head Start professionals in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s laughable to say all they\u2019re trying to do is take away some bureaucracy,\u201d Brennan said. \u201cBy ending rules that guide Head Start\u2019s high, uniform standards, the administration\u2019s real goal is to leave the education business.\u201d<\/p>\n In Philadelphia, more than $70 million in federal funding for Head Start goes through the Philadelphia School District, the program\u2019s largest provider in the city, said Diane Castelbuono, the district\u2019s deputy chief for early learning. <\/p>\n The district uses that money to directly operate Head Start programming in more than 60 school buildings, mostly elementary schools, throughout the city, she said. It also works with approved contractors who run Head Start classrooms at approximately 75 childcare sites in Philadelphia, Castelbuono added. <\/p>\n Asked for comment on the proposed changes, the school district said in a statement that the Head Start program has \u201cpositively impacted\u201d students and that district officials \u201cremain committed to preserving the robust standards that have proven essential to our program\u2019s success.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Stunned and sad\u2019<\/p>\n While only Congress can repeal the statutory authorization for Head Start, which has an annual budget of about $12 billion, opponents of the Trump administration\u2019s proposal warn the new rules would weaken the program to the point it became unrecognizable \u2014 or stopped existing altogether. <\/p>\n The plan<\/a>, called \u201cReducing Federal Burden for Head Start Programs,\u201d was released Aug. 7. <\/p>\n Public comment will be accepted until October, when the administration hopes to finalize the rules. <\/p>\n Kush Desai, a spokesperson for the White House, said the changes would enable the government to provide a stronger program that ensures services \u201care delivered effectively to children and families in need\u201d by reducing \u201cunnecessary administrative burden.\u201d<\/p>\n Advocates who have spent their late-summer vacations reading the complex, nearly 200-page document say they are in the process of marshaling opposition, which they hope will delay or alter the administration\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s so much to unpack,\u201d said Kara McFalls, executive director of the Pennsylvania Head Start Association i<\/a>n Harrisburg. \u201cWe\u2019re checking with experts to see if Head Start becomes gravely harmed.\u201d<\/p>\n Advocates say initial readings of the new rule justify their concerns.<\/p>\n Beyond altering teacher-child ratios, the administration would lower the cap on Head Start administrative program costs from 15% to 5%, which means local programs could spend only up to 5% of their total budget on operational overhead like management, human resources, IT, and administrative salaries.<\/p>\n That would be \u201cdevastating,\u201d McFalls said, making it harder for programs to pay staff working in these departments. <\/p>\n Additionally, the administration would require instruction to be conducted in English only \u2014 which could hit several Head Start programs across the city that offer bilingual education. <\/p>\n \u201cThat policy would be ridiculous and biased,\u201d said Rachel Sanders, executive director of Your Child\u2019s World Learning Center, which includes Head Start programs in Southwest and Northeast Philadelphia<\/a>, as well as in West Oak Lane<\/a>. \u201cOur children speak multiple languages.\u201d<\/p>\n While all primary instruction is in English, Sanders said, children who speak Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic, or another language are taught the lessons either by teachers fluent in those languages or by translators brought in to help. She added that 50% of the students in the Northeast location do not speak English on the first day of instruction, but that the additional support helps them eventually learn the language.<\/p>\n \u201cNo way would we ever discontinue translating,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n Under the Trump administration plan, requirements for math and literacy curricula would be removed. Also gone would be stipulations that programs check on whether families have provided their children with immunizations, dental visits, wellness checks, and mental health consultations.<\/p>\n And hygiene training \u2014 including the Head Start tradition that children brush their teeth in class \u2014 would end.<\/p>\n The proposed changes \u201cleft me stunned and sad,\u201d said Chandell Craig-Cromwell, 39, of West Philadelphia<\/a>, a mother of two Head Start graduates who works in human resources in a city agency. <\/p>\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t just education, or babysitting. It\u2019s developmental support,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m upset for all the moms who\u2019ll get this new version of Head Start.\u201d<\/p>\n If the administration alters Head Start so profoundly, said Sharon Wolf, <\/a>an early education expert at the University of Pennsylvania<\/a>, she questioned whether the program should still keep its name. <\/p>\n \u201cI fear we could be moving to weakened, ordinary childcare,\u201d she said. \u201cThen, is it Head Start anymore?\u201d<\/p>\n