Get Head Start Reform Right for Wisconsin

For more than 60 years, Head Start has helped children get ready for kindergarten and helped families build stronger futures. Wisconsin's Head Start and Early Head Start programs served more than 14,000 children and nearly 300 pregnant women last year. For many families, especially in rural communities and Tribal nations, Head Start is the one place where a child gets early learning, health screenings, and healthy meals under one roof.

That is now at risk. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed a rule that would remove most of the national standards that make Head Start work. Thousands of parents, teachers, health providers, and community members submitted comments sharing their concerns. HHS hasn't issued a final rule, and nothing is changing in Head Start programs right now.

The proposed rule would:

• Replace Head Start's class size and teacher-child ratio limits with state licensing rules
• Remove requirements for teacher qualifications
• End required timelines for health, vision, hearing, dental, and developmental screenings, and for follow-up care
• Weaken support for children with disabilities, children experiencing homelessness, and children in foster care
• Require all instruction in English and remove support for children learning English
• Reduce services for pregnant women, infants, and toddlers
• Weaken parents' formal role in decisions about their children's programs

Congress can fix this. Congress has to pass a spending bill to keep the government funded, and that bill can stop HHS from finalizing this rule and keep the current standards in place.

Take action. Use the form to email your U.S. Representative and both U.S. Senators. It takes about two minutes. Adding a sentence about what Head Start means to you makes the biggest difference.