I Was a Head Start Child. We Can’t Afford to Forget What It Means.

Then

Op-Ed

Now

Publisher

As children across Western Pennsylvania prepare to head back to school, another story deserves our attention—one that could shape the future of thousands of our youngest learners.

I know because I was one of them.

Growing up in Denver, Colorado, I attended Head Start. Like so many children from working families, I didn’t have every advantage. But I had teachers who believed in me, encouraged me, and gave me a foundation before I ever stepped into kindergarten.

That foundation mattered.

Head Start wasn’t simply a place where children stayed while their parents worked. It introduced us to reading, social skills, healthy routines, and caring adults who recognized our potential before the world did.

Today, that foundation is at the center of a national debate.

The Trump administration has proposed major changes to Head Start that would significantly reduce federal performance standards and shift more responsibility to states and local programs. The proposal is still subject to public review before any final action is taken, but it has raised concerns among educators, parents, and child advocates across the country.

This isn’t an abstract policy discussion for Pennsylvania.

Head Start and Early Head Start currently serve roughly 34,600 children and families across the Commonwealth, and there is a program in every Pennsylvania county. These programs provide far more than preschool. They offer health screenings, nutrition, developmental support, and family services designed to help children arrive at kindergarten ready to learn.

Here in Allegheny County, the need is obvious.

Earlier this year, leaders from the Allegheny Intermediate Unit reported that 958 children are currently being served through its Head Start and Early Head Start programs, down from 1,238 children in 2023. The reason wasn’t fewer children needing help—it was staffing shortages and financial pressures that forced classrooms to close.

Pittsburgh Public Schools also reported serving 723 Head Start students and 93 Early Head Start students, while educators warned that many working families earn just enough to lose eligibility but still cannot afford quality child care.

That should concern every one of us.

For many Black families in Pittsburgh, neighborhoods have long faced disparities in income, health outcomes, and educational opportunity. Head Start has been one of the nation’s most significant investments in helping children overcome those barriers before they ever enter elementary school.

“Before I became a journalist… Before I earned two college degrees… Before I founded Pittsburgh Urban Media… I was a little girl sitting in a Head Start classroom. Someone invested in me before they knew what I could become.”

— Robin Beckham, Publisher, Pittsburgh Urban Media

Today, thousands of children are depending on adults to make similar investments in them.

No program is perfect. Every government program should be accountable, transparent, and continually improved. That’s a fair conversation. But if changes are going to be made, they should strengthen opportunities for children—not make it harder for families to access them or reduce the supports that have defined Head Start for decades.

What you can do.

• Ask candidates where they stand on early childhood education.
• Learn how proposed federal and state policies could affect local programs.
• Pay attention to the decisions being made in Harrisburg and Washington.
• When it’s time to vote, remember: the future of early childhood education will also be shaped at the ballot box.

Our children deserve nothing less than our attention—and our participation.

Robin Beckham

Publisher, Pittsburgh Urban Media

Robin Beckham is the founder and publisher of Pittsburgh Urban Media. A former broadcast journalist with two college degrees, she is a proud Head Start alumna from Denver, Colorado.