By Carolyn Jones
Chalk one up for the 4-year-olds.
Thanks to a relentless onslaught of pleading, cajoling, lobbying and public pressure, Head Start appears to have dodged the federal budget axe — for the time being.
Last month, President Donald Trump’s early budget draft called for the elimination of Head Start, the free early-childhood program for low-income families. Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s conservative policy roadmap, also called for the program’s demise, saying it has “little or no academic value.”
That triggered an all-hands-on-deck response from Head Start staff, families and alumni, who touted the program’s success in propelling families out of poverty. The National Head Start Association said advocates sent more than 300,000 letters to Congress, added more than 50,000 signatures to petitions and attended rallies throughout the country.
Meanwhile, Head Start advocates took to social media and national TV to plead their case and visited Republican members of Congress to convince them of the program’s value. They reached out directly to the White House. In their free time, advocates said they lobbied everyone from neighbors to hairdressers to gardeners — anyone who had even a remote interest in the program.
It appears to have worked: The latest draft of Trump’s budget proposal, released last week, doesn’t call for any changes to the $12.27 billion program. Still, advocates worry that new cuts may lie ahead.
“We mobilized absolutely everyone,” said Melanee Cottrill, executive director of Head Start in California. “We launched a very intensive campaign. We still have a lot of concerns, but right now there’s a sigh of relief.”
From prenatal to kindergarten
Head Start, launched in 1965, served about 800,000 children last year, including 83,000 in California. Originally a preschool, the program now serves children from birth through age 5. Children get meals and a play-based academic curriculum that prepares them for kindergarten, while families get housing and job assistance, referrals to social and medical services, prenatal visits and parenting support.
To qualify, families need to be below the federal poverty line, which is $26,650 for a family of three, be homeless or receive food assistance. Children in foster care also qualify.
The program is relatively cost-efficient: The per-pupil annual cost is about $13,700, compared to the cost of private preschool, which in California can easily exceed $20,000 a year, depending on the location.
Research is mixed on the program’s effectiveness. One study found that Head Start alumni had significantly higher rates of high school and college graduation. But another study found that children who attended Head Start outperformed their peers at first, but by third grade the advantage had all but dissipated.
Regardless, the program is immensely popular with families and programs typically have waiting lists.
Head Start is helping families
Oscar Gomez, vice chair of Episcopal Community Services’ board of directors, a Head Start provider in San Diego, attended the program as a child growing up in Tulare County. While his mother worked in the nearby almond and orange orchards and took English classes, Gomez and his three siblings learned to share and take turns, count to 20 and write their names.
Head Start imbued him with a love of school and allowed his mother to take classes that led to higher-paying jobs, he said. Gomez went on to get two master’s degrees and his mother now conducts home visits for Head Start.
“I can honestly say that without Head Start I would not be where I am today, and there are millions and millions of people like me,” Gomez said.
