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| 麻州州長Maura Healey為捍衛“學前啟蒙教育”，在摩頓市發言。（周菊子攝） |
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| 聯邦眾議員Katherine Clark在她的選區發言。（周菊子攝） |
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| 麻州長Maura Healey和出席正要合影。（周菊子攝） |
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| 麻州長Maura Healey和支持的她的女性民眾。（周菊子攝） |
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| 麻州州長Maura Healey（右三）和麻州教育廳廳長 Steve Zrike (右二）， 麻州眾議員Steve Ultrino (左一）等州政府人員合影。（周菊子攝） |
包括這天出席記者會的麻州副州長Kim Driscoll，麻州教育廳廳長Steve Zrike，摩頓市市長Gary Christenson，以及這天不在現場的麻州參議會議長Karen Spika等地方領袖都強調，川普政府研擬推行的新法規，將直接傷害最脆弱的兒童與家庭。
麻州政府還強調，已在2027財政年度預算中編列 2,000 萬美元，比去年增加350 萬美元的來補貼學前啟蒙教育的營運，是全美少數自行加碼補助的州之一。麻州幼教主管機關與波士頓社區發展行動（ABCD 等）等組織嚴正警告，如果聯邦政府撤銷保護標準，麻頓市等門戶城市及麻州西部農村等又叫資源匱乏地區將大受衝擊。
Governor Healey Calls on Trump Administration to Reverse Changes that Would Dismantle Head Start
Massachusetts leaders urge families and teachers to speak out against sweeping proposal that would weaken early education, safety and family supports
MALDEN – Governor Maura Healey today joined Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, Congresswoman Katherine Clark, Secretary of Education Steve Zrike, Early Education and Care Commissioner Amy Kershaw, Head Start providers, teachers and families to call on the President Trump to withdraw a sweeping proposal that would gut longstanding standards protecting children and families participating in Head Start.
More than 10,000 young children in Massachusetts are served by Head Start, which provides early education, childcare, health and dental screenings, developmental supports and other services to children from families with low incomes. The proposed rule would weaken many of the standards that ensure families can count on these critical services and create new barriers for children and families Head Start was explicitly designed to serve, including dual language learners, children with disabilities and children and families experiencing homelessness.
Governor Healey is urging Massachusetts families, educators, providers and advocates to speak out against the proposed changes during the federal public comment period, which runs through October 6.
“President Trump has repeatedly targeted Head Start, and now he is trying to dismantle it from the inside out,” said Governor Maura Healey. “This proposal would strip away the standards that keep class sizes small, keep kids safe and make sure they get the services they need. That isn’t flexibility. It means lower-quality care and fewer supports for families. We’re urging people across Massachusetts to speak out and help us protect Head Start.”
“Head Start helps children get a strong start and gives parents the reliable care and support they need to work and support their families,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “We should be making high-quality early education more affordable and accessible. President Trump’s proposal would move us backward and put more pressure on families and communities across Massachusetts.”
"We are in an existential fight over Head Start and the future of early education," said Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (MA-5). "Donald Trump and Republicans want to dismantle the program by watering down the quality of care it offers. Their focus is on enriching the billionaire class at the expense of everyday Americans. Democrats are committed to holding them accountable for their cruelty. We are determined to retake the House and enact an agenda that puts our kids and families first.”
"What Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans are doing is unconscionable," said Senate President Karen E. Spilka (D-Ashland). "Early education is pivotal to children’s future success; that’s why we have fought hard in Massachusetts to increase its availability and affordability. These changes will not only weaken early education and hurt the families and children who depend on Head Start to get a leg up, they will undermine our state’s commitment to education. I stand with Governor Healey and families across our state in calling on the Trump Administration to reverse this decision and stop harming our kids' education."
“It's especially fitting that Governor Healey is visiting Malden on the day we welcome our students back to school,” said Malden Mayor Gary Christenson. “Her commitment to expanding educational opportunity, beginning with our earliest learners, has made a difference for families across Massachusetts. By recognizing the critical importance of early childhood education, she is helping ensure that every child has the strong foundation they need to succeed.”
“We know that young children learn best when they have skilled educators, individualized attention and instruction that recognizes and builds on who they are,” said Secretary of Education Steve Zrike. “President Trump’s proposal ignores what educators and research tell us about how children learn, restricting support for multilingual learners and weakening standards that ensure a high-quality education. We should be giving educators the tools to meet the needs of every child, not taking those tools away.”
The proposed rule would roll back longstanding Head Start requirements that keep class sizes small, protect children’s health and safety, and ensure children with disabilities receive critical services. It would also require most Head Start education to be conducted in English and create new barriers for families experiencing homelessness to access the program. The Trump Administration has characterized its proposal as giving Head Start programs greater “flexibility.” But the proposal provides no additional funding and would eliminate many of the federal standards that guarantee children receive a consistent level of care regardless of where they live. Once services and staffing are no longer federally required, programs facing tight budgets could be pressured to cut them.
The proposed rule would weaken the quality of education and care by:
• Eliminating federal limits on class sizes and teacher-child ratios, reducing individualized attention and undermining child development and safety.
• Removing federal teaching and learning standards, including specific requirements for curriculum implementation and teacher training.
• Removing critical federal health and safety protections, including standards against harmful practices such as seclusion and requirements to supervise children at all times.
It would also create new barriers and eliminate services for children and families by:
• Requiring English-only instruction, with limited exceptions, restricting support for dual language learners and weakening communication with families who speak languages other than English. In the last program year, 64 percent of children in Massachusetts Head Start programs were identified as dual language learners.
• Making it harder for families experiencing homelessness to enroll by ending self-attestation and requiring documentation that can be difficult for families without shelter placements to obtain. In the last program year, 16 percent of children enrolled in Head Start in Massachusetts experienced homelessness.
• Removing critical services for children with disabilities and behavioral challenges, including timely developmental screenings and follow-up supports. In the last program year, 12 percent of preschool children in Massachusetts Head Start programs had an IEP, with additional children awaiting diagnoses or experiencing developmental delays.
• Weakening requirements for services to pregnant women, new mothers and newborns, new mothers and newborns, including newborn health and postpartum depression screenings.
The proposed rule would make it harder for families and programs to maintain the services they rely on by:
• Putting working families at risk of losing hours of care by eliminating requirements for the length of the Head Start day and year, potentially leaving parents to find and pay for alternative child care or miss work.
• Reducing parents’ role in shaping their local Head Start program by weakening their role in program development and decisions about curriculum, health, nutrition and other policies.
• Cutting the allowable administrative cost cap from 15 percent to 5 percent, a level only a small fraction of Head Start programs currently meet.
• Disproportionately harming rural Head Start programs, which face higher operating costs and often serve families with few other early education, child care and health service options.
Taken together, these changes would eliminate many of the standards that guarantee families a consistent baseline of high-quality services from Head Start programs. Even in Massachusetts, which has strong early education standards, eliminating federal Head Start requirements could put critical services and supports at risk. Many Massachusetts Head Start programs also participate in the state’s Child Care Financial Assistance programs, allowing state and federal funding to be blended to serve children together. As a result, changes that weaken Head Start could have ripple effects across Massachusetts’ broader early education and child care system.
“Head Start’s two-generation approach supports both parents and children, providing critical support to families and to the workforce that makes our communities and economy stronger,” said Early Education and Care Commissioner Amy Kershaw. “At a time when Massachusetts is working to strengthen and support our early education and child care, dismantling Head Start would move us backwards. We should be building on the strong foundation Head Start has provided for decades — not taking it away from the children, families, and educators who rely on it.”
Governor Healey has repeatedly stepped up to protect Head Start programs and families amid federal threats to the program. During President Trump and Congressional Republicans’ 2025 federal government shutdown, Governor Healey accelerated state supplemental funding to help Head Start programs avoid layoffs and closures and keep children in care. Massachusetts is one of only approximately 14 states that supplements federal Head Start funding with state dollars, and the Healey-Driscoll Administration has increased annual state funding for Head Start by $3.5 million, with the FY27 budget funding Head Start at $20 million. The administration has also fought federal efforts to weaken the program, including including calling on the Trump Administration to reverse a proposal that would weaken wage and benefit standards for Head Start educators.
“The proposal to deregulate Head Start would gut Head Start of the core services and functions that provide children and families with the highest quality care they deserve,” said Michelle Haimowitz, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Head Start Association. “Head Start is a lifeline for families and a cornerstone of our communities. It serves children whose unique needs are often not met by other programs. At a time when families are struggling to find affordable, high-quality child care, we should be expanding opportunity, not weakening a program that has delivered results for children for more than six decades. We stand with the Healey-Driscoll Administration, Whip Clark, State House leaders, and our full Massachusetts Congressional delegation in opposing this harmful rule."
“We are grateful to Governor Healey, Lieutenant Governor Driscoll, and Congresswomen Clark for their leadership and longstanding commitment to the well-being of families across the Commonwealth and to the Head Start program. Head Start is a keystone to the work of Community Action Agencies in fighting poverty. It provides families living with low incomes across the state at 16 Community Action Agencies and other nonprofits with access to comprehensive high-quality early education, said Joe Diamond, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Association for Community Action. “With Head Start we make and keep a promise to families that their children will be safe, healthy, and ready for school. Head Start programs across the state are open and enrolling children for the Fall and the Head Start staff members – teachers, family advocates, cooks, bus drivers, health professionals, and program directors – are ready and dedicated to serving those children.”
Since taking office, the Healey-Driscoll Administration has added more than 22,000 child care seats and expanded financial assistance to help 17,000 families afford care. The administration also continued operational grants that have helped 8,000 child care programs stay open and invested millions in the state’s first-ever loan repayment program for early childhood educators and in training more than 250 early education apprentices.
The federal public comment period is open through October 6, 2026. The Healey-Driscoll Administration is encouraging Massachusetts residents to submit comments describing how the proposed changes would affect children, families, educators and Head Start programs in their communities.
“Head Start programs in Massachusetts provide vital early childhood education, health and wellness benefits, and other critical services to thousands of families each year,” said Senator Jason Lewis, Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Education. “I am proud to stand with Governor Healey, Congresswoman Clark, and everyone else fighting to protect Head Start and the many communities they support here in Malden, throughout Massachusetts, and across the country.”
"We can all agree that programs like Head Start should reach more children and support more families. But giving each child less is not the solution," said State Senator Jake Oliveira. "Head Start is more than early education. It connects children and families with developmental supports, nutrition, community engagement, and other comprehensive services that make a difference long after a child leaves the program. Weakening those supports in the name of expanding access risks stretching the same investment thinner and fundamentally changing what Head Start provides. That is particularly concerning in Western Massachusetts for the families that I represent, where parents already have limited access to early education and care providers and fewer alternatives when services are unavailable. A family cannot access a provider where there isn't one. We should be expanding Head Start by investing in the educators, providers, and services that make it work, not asking children and families to accept less."
“I stand with the Healey-Driscoll Administration and Representative Katherine Clark in opposing these proposed changes and in protecting the vital early education and support services that Head Start provides to Massachusetts families", said Representative Ken Gordon, House Chair of the Joint Committee on Education. “The federal government’s proposal to weaken Head Start programs would harm not only low-income children and families, but also our workforce and economy."
“One in 10 families in Malden have at least one child enrolled in our Head Start program, and the demand keeps growing every year,” said State Representative Steven Ultrino, Ed.D. “The number of children enrolled in the Malden program alone has increased almost 50% since 2020. This is because Head Start provides indispensable, high-quality care and education to some of our most vulnerable children and their families. It is, and always has been, a successful program. Any federal changes that jeopardize Head Start, will no doubt threaten the safety, stability, and quality of care received by children across our Commonwealth. Simply put, the impact would be especially devastating to Gateway Cities, such as Malden, and rural communities where families are already struggling to access affordable early education and childcare.”
“As a former public school teacher and as a mom, I’ve experienced firsthand the importance and positive impacts of early education and childcare (EEC),” said State Representative Kate Lipper-Garabedian. “This federal administration continues to undermine and defund programs that support our most vulnerable residents, children, and families. Massachusetts is the only state that has made permanent the level of COVID-era funding for EEC that the federal government supplied during the Biden Administration, reflecting the Commonwealth’s recognition of the value of education and the significant role it plays in expanding opportunities. As a member of the Legislature, I was proud to support $20 million in state funding for Head Start programs in the FY27 budget. It is incredibly concerning that we are seeing a complete retreat from the federal government’s historic participation in this critical ecosystem."
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