The following was written by Policy & Advocacy Manager Nadia Gronkowski at Start Early, which houses the Educare Network’s National Coordinating office. This blog outlines the comments submitted by the Educare Network and Start Early partners to the Office of Head Start in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking related to changes to the Head Start Program Performance Standards.
On January 19, 2024, the Educare Network and Start Early submitted comments to the Office of Head Start (OHS) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) related to changes to the Head Start Program Performance Standards. The proposed changes reflect important potential adjustments centered around:
- Improving workforce compensation and benefits,
- Integrating mental services more broadly in programs, and
- Enhancing program quality initiatives focused on engaging families, health and safety, and better meeting community needs.
The submitted comments represent feedback from over 150 staff and parent leaders across Educare schools and Start Early programs. Overall, both the Educare Network and Start Early applaud these efforts to promote quality through support for the workforce and recommend OHS provide additional guidance to programs on the implementation of the proposed changes.
As one staff member noted, “These changes seem to be a big step in creating equitable and inclusive educational programs for students, families and staff. It supports teaching staff’s wellbeing and keeping them from burnout, while also creating more opportunities for families furthest from educational justice.”
Additionally, in order to fully realize the benefits of the proposed updates to the performance standards, the Educare Network and Start Early encourage OHS to consider the significant resources that programs will need to successfully enact these changes and also to address the need for a more urgent timeline for these changes given the current workforce crisis.
Check out the full text of the letter submitted by the Educare Network and Start Early.
For any questions on the comments, please reach out to Nadia Gronkowski at ngronkowski@startearly.org.
