Rep. Summer Lee Introduces Bill to Expand Head Start to 11 Million Children

PITTSBURGH, PA - FEBRUARY 23, 2026 - Congresswoman Summer L. Lee (PA-12) alongside Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), introduced the Head Start for America's Children Act, sweeping legislation to dramatically expand access to high-quality early childhood education and comprehensive services for working families across the country. This bill serves as the House companion to legislation led by Senator Bernie Sanders, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP).

The Head Start for America's Children Act would expand the program to serve more than 11 million eligible young children nationwide, while raising wages for Head Start educators and strengthening support services for families.

"Head Start has transformed the lives of generations of children and families, and expanding it through the Head Start for America's Children Act honors the dignity and potential of every child, no matter their zip code,"said Congresswoman Summer Lee. "Working parents deserve to know their kids are safe, supported, and receiving high quality early education while they pursue opportunity. As a co-lead of this legislation, I am proud it invests in early educators and strengthens our communities by building a more just future for our children."

"Head Start is a lifeline to countless families in every state and our government must invest in this program to make sure it reaches every eligible young child, not cut it. As Chair of the Congressional Mamas' Caucus, I will continue to lead efforts in Congress to defend this critical funding and do everything in my power to fully fund Head Start. I am proud to join Senator Sanders in introducing this legislation to expand Head Start eligibility to over 10 million new children, raise educator pay, and invest in comprehensive support services for our families," said Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib.

"In the richest country in the history of the world, we have a moral responsibility to provide high-quality early childhood education and child care for our children. Instead, President Trump has illegally withheld funds from Head Start and slashed critical programs for children and families to pay for $1 trillion in tax breaks for the top 1% and over $900 billion in tax breaks for large corporations," said Senator Sanders. "I have a different idea: Let's expand and fully fund Head Start to make sure it reaches every eligible young child, extend the length of programs so working families don't have to find additional child care and raise teacher pay so educators are not forced to leave the field or work a second job just to make ends meet. At a time of greater income and wealth inequality than ever before, it is unconscionable for President Trump and Republicans in Congress to hand tax cuts to billionaires while slashing education funding, including for Head Start. If we are serious about caring about our young children, we must expand Head Start programs across the country to reach every working-class family."

For 60 years, local Head Start programs have provided high-quality early education and comprehensive services for more than 40 million children and working families. Today, nearly 800,000 children receive early education, health and dental care, and healthy meals through Head Start, while their families access referrals for job training, adult education, nutrition services and housing support.

Research shows that the first five years of a child's life are critical for social, emotional, and cognitive development. Head Start children are better prepared for kindergarten, have better health outcomes and are more likely to graduate from high school and attend college. Yet in America today, families in most states pay more for child care than rent, mortgage payments or in-state college tuition. High-quality early learning opportunities remain out of reach for millions, with 5.3 million children under the age of 6 - nearly 17% of children in America - living in poverty in 2023.

The Head Start for America's Children Act would:

• Fully fund Head Start to serve 11 million eligible young children and simplify enrollment;
• Align program hours with working families' schedules so parents do not need additional child care;
• Raise Head Start educator pay to at least $60,000 a year and establish salary scales and competitive benefits;
• Provide recruitment and retention incentives grants for up to 12,500 educators;
• Expand co-location of Head Start programs on college campuses and partnerships with child care providers;
• Strengthen and diversify the early educator pipeline to prepare at least 3,000 teachers over five years;
• Improve mental health services for Head Start staff, families, and children; and
• Invest in facility upgrades, including removing lead contamination in paint and water.

This legislation is cosponsored by Reps. Adams (NC-12), Beatty (OH-03), Carbajal (CA-24), Carson (IN-07), Cisneros (CA-31), Clarke (NY-09), Davis (IL-07), Dingell (MI-06), Elfreth (MD-03), Evans (PA-03), Frost (FL-10), Holmes Norton (DC-AL), Garamendi (CA-08), Garcia (IL-04), Grijalva (AZ-07), Gomez (CA-34), Hoyle (OR-04), Jayapal (WA-07), Kennedy (NY-26), Lieu (CA-36), McClellan (VA-04), McGarvey (KY-03), McIver (NJ-10), Moore (WI-04), Omar (MN-05), Pingree (ME-01), Pocan (WI-02), Ross (NC-02), Simon (CA-12), Tokuda (HI-02), and Watson Coleman (NJ-12).

This legislation is cosponsored by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

The legislation is endorsed by The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), The Arc of the United States, Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS), Child Care for Every Family Network, Council for Exceptional Children, Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children, EdTrust Midwest, Family Values @ Work, First Focus Campaign for Children, MiSide Community Impact Network, MomsRising, Mothering Justice Action Fund, The National Women's Law Center Action Fund, New America's Early and Elementary Education Policy Program, Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children, Pennsylvania Head Start Association, Starfish Family Services, UnidosUS, The Vermont Head Start Association, Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency, and Zero to Three.

Read the bill text here.

Read a summary here.

Congresswoman Summer Lee serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on Education and Workforce. Since taking office in January 2023, shehas delivered historic levels of federal investment totaling over $2.4 Billionbrought back to Western PA, including over $580 million for infrastructure, over $110 million for affordable transit, over $500 million to keep clean energy manufacturing at home in Pennsylvania, and over $55 million on clean energy efforts in and around schools to help keep our kids and communities safe. These investments will help improve Western Pennsylvania's infrastructure and transit, ensure cleaner air and drinking water, lower housing costs, fund research institutions, fuel clean manufacturing, fund STEM innovation and entrepreneurship, boost workforce development, and create thousands of good paying union jobs.  Lee and her team have also delivered casework and constituent services to over 3,000 constituents with issues ranging from helping our seniors and disabled community access Medicare and social security to helping folks secure housing and helping families with immigration support and passports.