​“We deeply appreciate Representative Ro Khanna’s continued leadership and advocacy on behalf of Head Start families in Santa Clara County. His letter affirms what we know to be true: early childhood education programs like Head Start are not only essential to academic success, but also to long-term health, stability, and opportunity for our most vulnerable children.

We also share the Congressman’s hope that federal funding for Head Start will ultimately be protected in the final budget. However, as stewards of a publicly funded agency, we are required by law to align staffing decisions with available and confirmed resources. At the time of our budget planning and notification timelines, we had not received sufficient assurances about the continuation of key funding streams, including those that support Head Start.

This uncertainty—compounded by declining enrollment, reductions, expirations or discontinuation of state and federal grants, rising operational costs, and expiring COVID-era grants—forced the Santa Clara County Office of Education to make difficult but necessary decisions to protect the long-term solvency of our programs.

We remain committed to working with our federal and state partners to secure sustainable funding and will rescind layoff notices where possible if resources materialize. In addition to the need for assurance of continued federal funding, SCCOE is also awaiting approval of our application to renew our federal Head Start grant, as the current grant is set to expire on June 30, 2025. We are in regular contact with the Office of Head Start regarding the status of this five-year grant renewal.

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SCCOE staff are valued professionals, deeply committed to serving our community, and we are doing everything in our power to advocate alongside them for adequate and stable funding to ensure the continued delivery of high-quality services to the children, families and partners who depend on us.”