特朗普政府正着手对面向低收入家庭的联邦早期儿童教育项目“开端计划”实施重大改革，此举引发了众多倡导者的强烈反对。他们指出，这些改革措施将限制原本已有70万名儿童从中受益的项目的覆盖面。相关利益方须在周二之前向联邦政府反馈这些改革措施将如何影响全美1.7万个“开端计划”中心。政府表示，随后将仔细审阅公众意见，再决定如何推进相关改革。
The Trump administration is moving ahead with big changes to Head Start, the federal early childhood education program that serves low-income families, to the outcry of advocates who say the proposals will limit access to the program, currently serving 700,000 students. Interested parties have until Tuesday to submit their thoughts to the federal government on how the changes would affect the 17,000 Head Start centers nationwide. The government says it will then review the public's comments and decide how to move forward with the proposal.
目前收到的数万条公众意见均指出，这些改革将减少对家长的扶持力度、导致班级规模扩大，甚至会让那些最需要该项目帮助的群体——比如无家可归的儿童——无法获得教育机会。特朗普政府声称，新规定有望新增23.6万个“开端计划”名额，还能在120亿美元的预算基础上节省22亿美元开支。根据新规定，“开端计划”各中心须遵守所在州关于班级规模、教育标准、背景审查及交通安排的相关规定，从而减轻联邦层面的成本负担与监管压力。
The tens of thousands of public comments made so far detail how advocates say the move will reduce support for parents, create bigger class sizes and push the kids who need Head Start the most, such as those experiencing homelessness, out of the classrooms. The Trump administration said the new rules could add 236,000 new spots for Head Start and ultimately save $2.2 billion from its $12 billion budget. The shift would require Head Start programs to follow their state's rules regarding class sizes, education requirements, background checks and transportation practices, reducing cost and oversight at the federal level.
此外，许多原本属于“开端计划”必备服务的项目也将变为可选项，包括协助家长申请医疗补助，以及每年两次的强制性家长会。据美联社报道，新规定还要求所有“开端计划”课程必须完全使用英语授课，尽管三分之一的参与儿童在家中说其他语言。负责监管该项目的美国卫生与公众服务部部长小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪表示：“‘开端计划’最初是政府对保障每位儿童的健康、尊严与发展潜力所作出的郑重承诺。我的叔叔萨奇·施赖弗正是基于这样一个信念创立了该项目：稳固的家庭环境、充足的营养供给以及健康的成长环境能够彻底改变一个孩子的人生轨迹。如今，我们正努力让‘开端计划’回归其初心。”
Many of the services Head Start requires would become optional, including helping parents navigate Medicaid and mandatory parent-teacher conferences twice a year. It would also require Head Start programs to be conducted entirely in English, even though a third of the children enrolled in it speak another language at home, according to The Associated Press. “Head Start began as a bold commitment to the health, dignity, and potential of every child. My uncle, Sarge Shriver, founded the program on a simple conviction: strong families, wholesome nutrition, and healthy childhood development can change the course of a child’s life,” said Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees the program.
“我们正在消除不必要的官僚程序，着力提升儿童的营养与身体健康水平，充分信任家长及当地社区的力量，同时让数十万更多儿童能够享受到‘开端计划’的福利。只有这样，我们才能为下一代延续‘开端计划’的承诺，”他补充道。不过，相关倡导人士指出，如果拆分‘开端计划’的各项职责，可能会破坏该项目在全国范围内为低收入家庭带来的教育连贯性与实际效用。
“Today, we are returning Head Start to those roots. 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," he added. But advocates say splitting up the obligations of Head Start programs could tear apart the cohesion and usefulness of the classroom for low-income families around the country.
“各州的儿童保育许可规定各不相同，因此教育质量在不同州之间可能出现巨大差异，”非营利组织‘新美国’的早期及小学教育政策高级分析师亚伦·洛温伯格说道。国家早期教育研究所的调查显示，仅有19个州的儿童保育许可标准与‘开端计划’目前针对4岁儿童设定的师生比例要求相符；而对于3岁儿童而言，仅有6个州的师生比例标准与之匹配。
"The quality could vary quite dramatically from state to state, depending on what their state child care licensing rules are," said Aaron Loewenberg, senior policy analyst for early and elementary education at the nonprofit New America. The National Institute for Early Education Research found only 19 states' child care licensing requirements have the same standards as Head Start's current staff-to-child ratio for age 4. For 3-year-olds, only six states have the same caregiver-to-child ratios as Head Start.
洛温伯格解释道：“在部分州，情况不会有太大变化，因为这些州的许可规定与联邦层面的‘开端计划’指南较为接近。但在其他州，尤其是南部各州，同样数量的教师可能需要照顾更多儿童，这会引发诸多担忧——不仅涉及教育质量，还包括孩子们的整体健康与安全。”‘开端计划’的初衷不仅是帮助低收入家庭的儿童，也旨在为这些家庭的父母提供支持。
"In some states, you wouldn't see a huge change because their state licensing regulations are pretty close to what the Head Start guidelines are federally. In other states, specifically more southern states, you could see quite a few more children in the classrooms with the same number of staff, which brings up all sorts of concerns — not just the quality of the education, but even just overall health and safety of the children," Loewenberg said. Head Start is also intended to assist low-income parents, not just their children.
该项目协助家长寻找住房、就业机会及食品援助，还为残疾儿童制定个性化成长计划，并鼓励家长积极参与当地项目的管理工作。作为家长代表，梅根·纽瑟姆在面向早期教育非营利组织‘从零到三’举办的在线研讨会上分享道：她的儿子曾在新生儿重症监护室接受治疗，而她本人在孕期又被确诊患有癌症，正是在这种艰难时刻，她接触到了‘开端计划’并积极参与其中。
It has helped parents find housing, employment and food assistance, as well as creating plans for children with disabilities and encouraging parents to actively participate in leadership roles in their local programs. Megan Newsome, a parent ambassador, said in a webinar with early childhood nonprofit Zero to Three that she became involved with Head Start very early on after her son spent time in the neonatal ICE and she was diagnosed with cancer during her pregnancy.
“‘启智计划’走进了我们的生活，是通过WIC（面向妇女、婴幼儿及儿童的援助项目）介绍给我们的。它对我们一家来说意义重大，在我接受癌症治疗期间更是帮了大忙。我知道，在我养病康复的这段时间里，我的孩子有一个非常安全的地方可以去，”纽瑟姆说道。“刚开始参加‘启智计划’时，他还不会自己吃饭，连拿勺子都做不到，连杯子也握不住。可仅仅一两周后，他的能力就有了飞速提升……那里提供了一切所需物品——我不用准备杯子，不用准备奶瓶，也不用准备配方奶。所有东西都一应俱全，真是太棒了。他的成长速度也快得惊人，”她补充道。
"Head Start came to our lives, was introduced through the WIC [Women, Infants and Children] program, and so they were very a very big part of our lives, and they were able to be beneficial while I was going through my cancer treatments. And I knew that I had a very safe place for him to go while I was healing and recovering and going through that process," Newsome said. "While he started attending Head Start, he couldn't feed himself, couldn't hold a spoon, couldn't, like, hold his own cup, and he was able to develop like very fast while going there, within a week or two weeks of going to Head Start. ...They provided everything ... I didn't have to provide cups. I didn't have to provide bottles.
如果没有联邦政府的支持，许多人士担心这类针对家庭的援助项目将会不复存在。《国会山报》已联系美国卫生与公众服务部寻求进一步说明。特朗普政府此前也曾试图削减或取消‘启智计划’：据称曾起草预算方案彻底终止该项目，还试图禁止无证移民子女参与，不过这一举措后来被法院裁定无效。虽然政府声称最新调整旨在提升项目灵活性，但支持者指出，若将行政开支的允许比例从15%降至5%，‘启智计划’的灵活性反而会大打折扣。
I didn't have to provide formula. Everything was provided, which I thought was amazing. He developed super fast," she added. Without federal involvement, advocates worry this type of support for families will disappear. The Hill has reached out to HHS for further comment. The Trump White House has targeted Head Start before, including reportedly drafting a budget to eliminate it entirely, as well as attempting to block undocumented children from the program, a move that was struck down by the courts. While the administration says the latest changes are to increase flexibility, advocates argue flexibility for Head Start will be reduced if the allowance for administrative costs goes from 15 percent to 5 percent.
“这一举措将迫使大量‘启智计划’运营机构要么关门停业，要么在运营方式上做出极其艰难的抉择。所以，这根本不是什么灵活性问题，”“从零到三岁”组织的政策主管梅丽莎·博蒂奇说道。除了削减项目经费外，新提案中的其他内容——比如强制使用英语授课、取消无家可归学生自行申报身份的权限——也可能阻碍学生顺利入学。
It "is going to push a lot of Head Start operators either out of operations or cause them to have to make very difficult choices about how they run their programs. So, this is not about flexibility," said Melissa Boteach, chief policy officer for Zero to Three. Along with programs cut, other aspects of the proposal such as English-only classrooms and cutting the ability for homeless students to self-attest their status could inhibit students from entering the classroom.
“首先，我们坚决不能接受这样的最终规则：它会让那些最需要帮助的儿童及其家庭更难获得‘开端计划’的服务。我认为，无论是这项规则本身还是相关提案，甚至从政府自身的表态来看，都显示出这样一个趋势——无家可归的儿童及家庭参与该计划的比例可能会下降，”全美开端计划协会副执行主任汤米·谢里丹说道。公众意见征集期结束后，特朗普政府必须对各方意见进行审议并出台最终规则；倘若最终规则与当前提案内容相差不大，很可能会遭到法律挑战。
"First and foremost is we just refuse to accept a potential final rule that would make it harder for children and families with the greatest need to access Head Start, I think that there's some pieces in this rule and in this proposal, even in the administration's own acknowledgement, that ... we would see potentially a drop in enrollment for children and families experiencing homelessness," said Tommy Sheridan, deputy director of the National Head Start Association. After the public comment period is over, the Trump administration will have to review the comments and come out with a final rule, which would likely be challenged in court if it remained close to the current proposal.
“我们致力于与卫生与公众服务部及政府高层合作，共同打造一个现代化的‘开端计划’体系。但我们坚决反对任何会损害儿童受助机会、降低项目质量或削弱地方自主权的规则，”谢里丹强调道。
"We're committed to working leadership at HHS and in the administration to build a modernized Head Start system. But we do stand in opposition to any final rule that compromises on child access, on program quality or on local autonomy," Sheridan said.