On June 11, 2026, the Center for American Progress submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) opposing the agency’s notice, titled “Restoring Flexibility To Support Head Start Program Access,” which would revoke a 2024 rule improving Head Start staff and educator wages and benefits.
In the letter, CAP argues that fair wages and benefits for the Head Start workforce are essential to stemming high turnover, keeping classrooms and program open, and ensuring that programs can deliver the high-quality early education services that are foundational to the Head Start promise. Head Start is a vital early education and family support program serving hundreds of thousands of the nation’s most vulnerable families. Recognized for providing high-quality care that combats poverty and improves life outcomes over generations, Head Start’s success depends on a stable, qualified workforce. But with no meaningful increases in compensation in at least three years, Head Start is plagued by frequent turnover, under-enrollment, and insufficient support for the early educators and staff performing its critical work. The 2024 rule represented an essential commitment to increasing compensation for this workforce, who are often paid a fraction of what similarly credentialed public school teachers receive. It also was an attempt to stem the losses of educators from the field that have resulted in widespread shortages, documented in CAP’s recent work on licensed child care deserts. Revoking the 2024 rule would weaken an already vulnerable program, threaten the wider child care sector—including parents’ access to affordable child care options—and undermine the important contributions of the Head Start workforce.
Click here to read CAP’s comment letter.