Callie Graham, 44, loves her job teaching a Head Start pre-K classroom in Reed City, a rural community in northwest Michigan.
Graham's favorite part is watching her 4-year-old's grow from bundles of anxiety, horrified their parents are leaving them, into social creatures curious about the world around them. The long-standing federal anti-poverty program provides free early education to low-income kids age birth to age 5 and services to their families.
But lately, Graham says, her future is clouded. Should she find a different job? One that feels more stable, given the past two years of tumult for Head Start, since President Donald Trump’s administration, initially bent on zeroing out its funding, kicked off a flurry of changes to the program.
“When you hear these changes might come or there might not be Head Start…,” Graham said, trailing off. “I’m a single mom, I have to think about what comes next for me.”
Graham’s concern is shared among many Head Start teachers across Michigan who say they have ridden the recent wave of program changes, most recently culminating in the largest one yet: a proposal released in August to roll back the hundreds of Head Start rules that dictate how the program runs. More relaxed regulations means programs could increase their kid-to-teacher ratios or reduce supports they're currently required to offer, like mental health consultation and medical screenings for kids.
The proposal hasn’t yet gone into effect and is open for public comments which can be submitted on the Federal Register's website under Reducing Federal Burden for Head Start Programs through Oct. 6, 2026.
Trump administration officials have said they want to do away with burdensome regulations, increase Head Start program flexibility and autonomy to meet local needs and slash program spending, while opening up more slots for kids. While there isn't national data on how many kids are on a wait list for Head Start in each state statewide data shows Michigan has a total of around 124,000 eligible kids, with only around 30,000 enrolled.
"We are removing unnecessary bureaucracy, strengthening nutrition and physical health, trusting parents and local communities, and opening Head Start to hundreds of thousands more children. That’s how we renew the promise of Head Start for the next generation," said federal Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in an August press release.
But Head Start teachers the Detroit Free Press spoke to aren't convinced. They worry the move to deregulate will ultimately spell more work and less support for them in classrooms already strained with high-need children. Teachers like Graham say they too would like to serve more kids and families, but not at the expense of lowering program quality.
Higher ratios worry teachers amid higher rates of kids with special needs
One of the proposed rollbacks of highest concern to Head Start teachers is the teacher to student ratios.
Head Start has historically required a ratio lower than state childcare licensing does. For a classroom of 3 year olds, for example, Head Start mandates a one teacher to eight kid ratio, while Michigan licensing allows for one teacher to 10 kids. Other states, like Georgia, have higher allowable ratios that are almost double what Head Start allows.
The federal proposal would allow Head Start programs to match higher ratio requirements state licensing allows, meaning more kids per teacher. Trump officials have maintained that the proposed rule gives permission for Head Start programs to increase class sizes if they choose, it’s not a mandate.
But Michigan Head Start program directors say they don’t trust that programs will have the freedom to decide whether or not to increase class sizes, given that the federal proposal touts rolling back regulations will open up over 200,000 more slots for kids nationwide and significantly cut program costs.
Chanda Hillman, executive director of the Michigan Head Start Association, a nonprofit representing Head Start grantees in the state, said she’s yet to hear from a program excited by the possibility of increasing its ratios. If no one wants to increase ratios, she asked, where will the additional slots come from?
“It’s hard to claim flexibility when it’s unclear that this flexibility will be approved,” she said. “Would they actually approve you not impacting your ratios or class sizes, when this whole NPRM is tied back to this $2.2 billion in cost savings?,” she continued. NPRM stands for Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the federal proposal’s official name.
Having to increase the number of kids in her classroom is exactly what worries Graham.
Especially as the number of kids with special needs has gone up over her 20 years in the program. Of the 16 kids in her classroom, about seven have individualized education plans (IEPs) for a range of issues including speech and other developmental delays.
“We are teaching them how to regulate their emotions, communicate with each other, solve problems, interact with their peers, we’re not just doing 1-2-3’s and A-B-C’s,” said Graham. “It’s not that teachers don’t want more kids in their classroom, it’s just the kids have these huge concerns. If we have more kids in our classroom, how are we going to be able to meet their needs?”
Graham said she worries more kids would speed up teacher burnout, something that Deborah Lewis, a Head Start teacher in Pontiac said she feels acutely at 65 years old. For the last five years, she’s been teaching classrooms with a higher proportion of kids on the autism spectrum and with challenging behaviors.
“I always wanted to work until 70, but the way things are right now, I can’t do it,” Lewis said. “I love being in the classroom, but the behaviors have gotten out of hand.”
What would make her stay? One, higher pay – she gets paid $23 an hour and says high medical bills are eating up her budget. And two, more teachers in classrooms who are highly trained in managing little kids with special needs and behavioral issues.
Neither of these things look to be on the horizon for Head Start teachers. The administration’s proposal would strip current minimum qualification requirements for Head Start teachers, allowing programs across the U.S. to hire less qualified staff in line with state licensing rules, which, similar to ratios, are often less rigorous than Head Start.
For a preschool classroom for example, Head Start requires lead teachers to have an associate or bachelor degree in early childhood education, while assistant teachers must have a Child Development Associate (CDA) degree. Comparatively, Michigan licensing allows preschool lead teachers to qualify through a number of credentials including work experience, college coursework or a CDA, while assistants only need to meet minimum age, background check and health and safety training requirements.
The proposal would also provide no additional money for Head Start, which program directors say has seen minimal funding increases over the last three years, making it hard for them to hire and keep qualified staff.
“We are up against high levels of competition to recruit and retain staff,” said Sarah See, early education director at Community Action of Allegan County, which runs Head Start programs. “So if we’re going to be asking to do more, to increase caseloads, increase classrooms, but we can’t offer them a competitive wage, how can that equal a win?”
'They're asking us to do more with less'
In addition to more kids, Head Start teachers say they’re worried about having less staff to support the additional load of kids and families. They point to the Trump proposal’s requirement that programs cap their administrative costs at 5% (currently, they’re capped 15%), something that Head Start directors say would be a challenge and would push them to consider where to cut staffing or services.
Trump officials say that rolling back Head Start requirements reduces the need for support staff making sure programs are in compliance with Head Start rules, freeing up money that can be used to hire more teachers and increase slots for kids.
But in practice, teachers like Graham worry the proposed cut could mean losing staff she feels are essential to her job. One of those people include Tiffany Harwood, who works as a Head Start family services coordinator, helping families with kids in Graham’s classroom get resources they need, like dental and health care.
“Families need her because she’s the one out in the community trying to find different ways to get them into doctors or dentists offices,” said Graham. “There are so many kids in our program whose teeth are rotting.”
Head Start provides early education but it also focuses on providing services to families that end up benefiting the kids, said Harwood.
“If those things are not getting taken care of, you see that reflected in the classroom,” Harwood said. “If a kiddo is not feeling well, is having dental issues, that’s distracting in the classroom.”
Harwood’s role, like others including mental health consultants who work one-on-one with special needs kids in Head Start classrooms, are examples of services that could end up on the chopping block, either because they'd be cut as administrative costs or as a result of programs having to tighten their belts.
For See, it’s the combination of expectations underlying the Trump Head Start proposal – increasing the number of kids in the program while dialing back staff – that doesn’t add up.
“Families will have to go elsewhere to get those wraparound services,” she said. “We can’t continue to provide these areas of support when we have to do it with less staff for more kids.”
“They’re asking us to do more with less,” See said.
Beki San Martin is a fellow at the Detroit Free Press who covers childcare, early childhood education and other issues that affect the lives of children ages 5 and under and their families in metro Detroit and across Michigan. Contact her at rsanmartin@freepress.com.
This fellowship was founded with support from the Bainum Family Foundation. The Free Press retains editorial control of this work.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: More kids, less support? Michigan Head Start teachers push back
