Trump administration cancels mandatory pay hike for Head Start teachers

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Friday canceled a rule mandating pay increases for teachers in Head Start, the federally funded early education program that serves more than 700,000 of the nation’s neediest preschoolers every year.

The move undoes a requirement, created in 2024 under President Joe Biden, that large Head Start programs gradually increase pay for teachers so they would reach parity with their local public schoolteachers. The Biden-era rule also called for expanding employee benefits and would have cost around $2.1 billion annually by 2031.

The money saved could allow Head Start programs to serve more children with the same amount of federal funding, President Donald Trump’s administration said. The administration has pushed to scrap many of Head Start’s quality regulations, saying programs can enroll more kids if they have more flexibility on spending.

“The Trump Administration is working hard to ensure that the promise of Head Start reaches as many children as possible with the funds Congress has appropriated,” said Alex J. Adams, an assistant secretary at Health and Human Services who oversees Head Start.

Advocates for Head Start educators say eliminating pay hikes could actually hurt enrollment. Some programs have been unable to recruit enough staff to operate at capacity and have had to shutter classrooms and preschool centers. Teacher turnover was particularly acute during the pandemic. More than 20% of Head Start teachers left in 2022, some fleeing for higher-paying jobs in public schools or in other sectors, such as retail or food service.

A majority of Head Start teachers hold bachelor’s degrees. But according to data reported by programs in 2026, Head Start teachers with master’s degrees earned less than $60,000 a year on average, while those with only a bachelor’s degree earned less than $50,000. Meanwhile, public schoolteachers earn an average of $75,000 a year, according to the National Education Association union.

The Trump administration “asks Head Start educators to keep doing more for less,” the National Association for the Education of Young Children said in a statement. If teachers move on to other jobs, kids cannot enroll, the group said. “A funded slot without a qualified teacher serves no one.”

The change had also been condemned by congressional Democrats, who take control of Congress in the new year. This past June, they authored a letter urging the Trump administration to change course and leave the Biden-era pay requirements in place.

Head Start was started in the 1960s as an antipoverty initiative. It targets children in low-income households, plus those who are homeless or in foster care or have disabilities. The program, which provides training and job opportunities for parents along with education for preschoolers, has long had bipartisan support.

But it has faced threats under the Trump administration. A White House budget draft last year proposed scrapping the program altogether. More recently, Adams proposed scrapping many of Head Start’s regulations, which form the basis for many of its signature offerings, such as medical screenings and family supports. His proposal would also do away with federal student-to-teacher ratios, deferring to state childcare regulations, which tend to be looser.

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AP Education Writer Alia Wong contributed to this story.

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