Head Start Funding Lags By Nearly $1 Billion

Federal databases show Head Start centers across the U.S. have received nearly $1 billion less in federal funding compared with this time last year. This week, the lag in funding caused some preschool classrooms for 400 low-income children to close in central Washington state. Head Start is a child development program for more than half a million of the nation’s neediest kids. The preschools are deeply reliant on the federal money they receive. Senator Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat, accused President Donald Trump’s administration of having “slow-walked” money appropriated by Congress. The administration didn’t respond to a request for comment.