By Thomas Ultican 1/12/2026
In 1965, Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty,” created Head Start to mitigate the negative effects associated with children living in poverty. At the time, nearly half of the nation’s poor were young children. The initiative started with eight-week summer sessions and after developing strong bipartisan support it was converted into a year-round plan. Today, “Project 2025” calls for ending Head Start which has President Trump mindlessly attacking the program.
On January 20, 2025, the ground work for these attacks was laid in one of Trump’s many day-one executive orders, “Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing.” The order states, “The Biden Administration forced illegal and immoral discrimination programs, going by the name “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI), into virtually all aspects of the Federal Government, in areas ranging from airline safety to the military.”
This claim is a total lie. There was nothing illegal about the DEI order and it was certainly the opposite of immoral. DEI is an attempt to end the ravages of racism in America. However, today’s president seems intent on implementing a Whites run everything agenda.
It is difficult to perceive the administrations move against “diversity, equity and inclusion” as anything other than overt racism. Illinois Head Start Association Executive Director Lauri Morrison-Frichtl reports that the Trump administration is requiring that anything related to DEI by removed from federal grant applications. Morrison-Frichtl claims this is a big problem because “DEI is core to our mission.”
The Heritage Foundation declares that the Head Start program affords little monetary worth as it provides “little or no long-term academic value for children.” The National Head Start Association disputes the claim, noting that participants are 12% less likely to live in poverty as adults and 29% less likely to receive public assistance. This is an example of using testing data to support a claim that the data is not capable of discerning one way or the other.
The ultra-right has always opposed public education and will use any malarkey — true on not true — to undermine free public schooling. They believe that parents should pay to educate their own children and evidently do not perceive there is any public benefit accruing from all children being educated.
Trump Signing an Executive Order in 2025
Trump’s January 29th executive order, “Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families”, is another misleading attack on public education. It stated:
“Parents want and deserve the best education for their children. But too many children do not thrive in their assigned, government-run K-12 school. According to this year’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 70 percent of 8th graders were below proficient in reading, and 72 percent were below proficient in math.”
The order goes on to state, “Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Education shall issue guidance regarding how States can use Federal formula funds to support K-12 educational choice initiatives.”
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) a part of the Department of Education states emphatically, “Proficient is not synonymous with grade level performance.” Tom Loveless’s Brookings Institute article notes, “Even students in private schools, despite hailing from more socioeconomically advantaged homes and in some cases being selectively admitted by schools, fail miserably at attaining NAEP proficiency.” Education historian, Diane Ravich writes:
“NAEP proficient is not grade level! NAEP publications warn readers not to make that error. NAEP proficient is equivalent to an A. … NAEP Basic is akin to grade level.”
The executive order is clearly about privatizing public education; not improving it.
Child Care Cliff
October 4, 2025, the remainder of Biden’s American Rescue Plan containing $24-billion in child care funding was due to expire. According to the Biden administration this funding allowed 80% of child care centers to stay afloat. It was the largest investment in child care in US history.
In addition to this big loss, child care is facing other large headwinds in 2026. Trump’s budget bill signed into law July, 2025 significantly cuts Medicaid and SNAP benefits. The cuts shift costs for these programs to the states. If states decide to makeup for the losses, they will need to find other areas of cost savings; meaning they will need to pull back on other services like child care support. Head Start is a significant component of child care in America and it will be fighting for survival.
Intensified immigration enforcement is also hitting child care. One in five early educators are immigrants and in large urban areas the rate approaches one in two. New America released a report in December which found that between February and July, 2025 there were 39,000 fewer foreign-born child care workers than the same period in 2024. “Immigration enforcement, to me, right now, is the number one disruptor both to parent behavior and provider behavior,” claimed Natalie Renew executive director of Home Grown. “It is hugely disruptive.”
On December 31, 2025, the Public Broadcasting Service reported, “The Trump administration has said it is freezing child care funds to all states until they provide more verification and administrative data about the programs in a move fueled by a series of fraud schemes at Minnesota day care centers run by Somali residents.” All 50 states will be impacted by the review, but Trump is focusing most of his ire on Minnesota and its Somali (not White) community.
January 6, 2026, CNN reported that the Trump administration is freezing $10 billion in funds for social services and child care in five Democratic-led states. The freeze will impact California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York, according to the department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Reporting for Reuters, Nate Raymond shared that on January 8th five states sued over Trump freezing $10 billion in childcare and family assistance funds. California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York filed in Manhattan after HHS on Tuesday said it had restricted their access to the funds pending further review. The lawsuit alleges the agency lacked a legitimate justification for the freeze, provided no evidence supporting fraud concerns and infringed on the Constitutional power of Congress over spending.
Will 2026 be Worse the 2025?
The lunatic in the White-house is a racist who only cares about his fellow billionaires and enriching himself. The attacks on Head Start and child care in general are more proof of this. The only thing to be done now is loudly demonstrate and in November take away the protection he is getting from spineless Republican legislators.
The truth is the Somalis are a wonderful addition to the American mosaic. Of course, Trump is disgusted by the color of their skin; they are not white. Anyone who disagrees with Trump’s self-centered agenda is not a radical leftist that hates America. Many of us are war veterans who, unlike dear leader, put our lives on the line to protect the American democracy he has set out to destroy.
tultican 
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