Trump administration cancels mandatory pay hike for Head Start teachers
[November 14, 2026]
By MORIAH BALINGIT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Friday said it would
cancel 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 will undo a requirement that large Head Start programs
gradually increase pay for teachers, so they would reach parity with
their local public preschool teachers. The rule, created under
Democratic President Joe Biden, also called for expanding employee
benefits and would have cost around $2.1 billion annually by 2031.
The Trump administration announced Friday that it was finalizing the
repeal of the pay-hike mandate. The new rule will take effect in
January.
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.
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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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