Lawmakers, families and educators make bipartisan push to protect Head Start

State lawmakers from both sides of the aisle joined forces with educators, parents and former Head Start participants at the state Capitol on Wednesday to warn against looming federal changes to the Head Start program that they say could jeopardize access to vital services for Pennsylvania children. 

The federal program, which serves more than 700,000 children nationwide – including 30,000 in Pennsylvania – celebrated 60 years in operation last year. However, a new proposed rule from President Donald Trump’s administration has Head Start providers and families who have benefited from the program worried that federal changes will weaken it. 

“The federal government has proposed a role that would eliminate many of the very standards that have made Head Start work and succeed for more than six decades,” said Kara McFalls, the executive director of the Pennsylvania Head Start Association. “But we are not here to sound an alarm. We are really here today to celebrate what Head Start has achieved – and to call on our leaders to protect it and strengthen it.”

Enacted in 1965 as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War on Poverty,” Head Start offers early learning and development opportunities, as well as a variety of health and wellness services, to children starting at birth through age 5. The program has served more than 40 million children since its inception, and research shows it improves educational outcomes and leads to social-emotional, language and cognitive benefits. 

The new federal rule, proposed by the Administration for Children and Families, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, seeks to eliminate several regulations in the federal Head Start Performance Standards. 

The administration argues in its rule that its proposed changes to the Head Start Program Performance Standards “would deliver tangible benefits to children, families, and the broader community, fueling prosperity and opportunity at every level.”

“Over time, the delivery of these crucial services became unnecessarily encumbered by onerous regulations,” it reads. “Eliminating these restrictive Federal regulations would also empower small and local businesses, freeing them to focus on excellence in service delivery rather than bureaucratic compliance.”

Head Start providers and educators disagree, arguing that the federal rule would increase class sizes, reduce the number of teachers and support staff and weaken medical and mental health services that are currently available through the program.  

Supporters cited a September poll by Susquehanna Polling and Research that found 82% of Pennsylvania voters support increasing funding for Head Start, as well as a March 2026 survey finding that 65% of voters oppose eliminating Head Start’s federal standards. 

Jill Karman, a Head Start teacher whose children have benefited from the program, said Head Start also helped her sister at a young age. “The experience shaped everything about who I am today,” Karman said. 

Karman added that the proposed federal changes could threaten services for children who need them most, like her sister, her sons and members of her community. 

“They can lose so much more than a classroom. They can lose access to early learning, health and dental services, mental health support, nutritious meals, and the safe, nurturing environments that help protect their well-being,” she said. “My greatest fear is that the children who need the most support could be the very children who lose access to it.”

Nyanda Finley de Santos, the director of family and community engagement at Community Services for Children, an Allentown Head Start provider, said the federal rule could also have negative ripple effects through local communities. 

“When parents lose reliable childcare, they may miss shifts, reduce their hours or leave jobs. Local employers lose dependable partners, and families lose income and support,” she said, adding that Head Start grantees are also major employers that provide jobs for teachers, family engagement staff and others.

Lawmakers who attended Wednesday’s press conference included Democratic state Sen. Judy Schwank and Democratic state Reps. Pat Harkins and Justin Fleming, as well as Republican state Rep. Shelby Labs.

Labs noted that Pennsylvanians across the political spectrum support Head Start. 

“An overwhelming number of Pennsylvanians know how critical this issue is, and they are sending us a clear message. They want us to work together to support our early childhood educators, their programs and the families who rely on them,” she said. “An overwhelming number of Pennsylvanians know how critical this issue is, and they are sending us a clear message. They want us to work together to support our early childhood educators, their programs, and the families who rely on them.”

Harkins agreed, stressing the importance of defending the standards that have made the program work. “We should be expanding Head Start,” he said, “not rolling back the standards that make it work for our communities.”