The federally funded Head Start program—long touted as a pillar of early childhood education—is under fire after a bombshell report from the Functional Government Initiative revealed the extent to which woke ideology has overtaken its curriculum. From race-obsessed seminars to bizarre gender teachings for toddlers, the findings have ignited fierce backlash.
The revelations stem from a deep dive into official Head Start webinars, training materials, and internal presentations. One 2020 webinar, titled “Engaging in Conversations About Racial and Ethnic Equity,” laid the groundwork, offering guidance to teachers on fostering “anti-racist” classrooms for children as young as three. The sessions instructed educators to confront “colorblind attitudes,” a term they claim hinders “racial and ethnic equity,” and promoted the idea of “microaggressions” being present in preschool classrooms.
The material only gets more radical.
Another segment accused babies of harboring racist tendencies, asserting that infants make “discriminatory” facial judgments and that young children use race to “negotiate power.” Teachers were urged to have “courageous conversations” about race—even with toddlers. Slides from the training defined four types of racism and positioned “equity”—not equality—as the ultimate goal.
The program also took aim at gender norms, reworking nursery rhymes to reflect trans ideology. One teaching tool offered updated lyrics for “Old MacDonald Had a Farm,” suggesting lines like “he/she/they had a pig” to promote gender inclusivity. Meanwhile, pregnant women were rebranded as “birthing parents” in official Head Start social media posts.
Head Start’s radical turn wasn’t limited to race and gender. In 2022, the program joined forces with Sesame Street to develop “racial justice resources” for young children. These included storybooks, workshops, and even a game called “Let’s Talk About Race.” One workshop claimed that children of color are more likely to be exposed to “toxins,” tying race and health issues into their broader DEI narrative.
The program also included terminology lists explicitly referencing “LGBTQIA2S+”—an acronym that encompasses lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual, two-spirit, and “additional sexual orientations and gender identities.” These terms were built into the framework of Head Start’s equity policy.
Perhaps most disturbing is the promotion of left-wing activist figures like Ibram X. Kendi and Nikole Hannah-Jones, whose controversial “1619 Project” has been widely criticized for historical inaccuracies and divisiveness. Head Start referenced their work directly in its materials, further embedding racial grievance ideology into federal early education.
Critics are pointing to this as yet another example of how deeply “diversity, equity, and inclusion” dogma has penetrated the federal bureaucracy—even reaching programs designed to serve the country’s most vulnerable children. While some of these initiatives began under President Trump’s first term, they’ve continued largely unimpeded, underscoring the entrenched nature of the DEI agenda within government.
Bonchie, writing for RedState, argued that these revelations expose how parody-level ideology has taken hold in the very places Americans least expect—or want—it. “That all of this was happening right under the nose of President Donald Trump during his first term shows the extent to which DEI had infected the federal government,” he wrote, warning that simply replacing leadership won’t undo years of ideological capture.
While leadership at Head Start has since changed, the public is only now catching a glimpse of how taxpayer-funded programs have been used to promote divisive social agendas to children not even old enough to read. The question now is whether exposure will lead to reform—or if these initiatives will continue under the radar until even more radical policies take root.
