‘Going to hurt all families’: Oregon sues over early education changes

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield and 20 other attorneys general are suing the Federal Administration over a new policy that reclassifies more than a dozen federally funded services as benefits similar to welfare.

Those programs will now have to verify the immigration status of students and parents.

The move could have devastating impacts on Oregon’s Head Start programs — which provide early childhood education to low-income families.

In a statement announcing the lawsuit, Rayfield says, “These changes were issued with no notice, no legal justification, and no plan for how states are supposed to comply.”

Non-profit advocacy group Family Forward Oregon — along with Head Start groups across the country — is also suing the administration over its closure of offices and restriction against using funds for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Candice Williams, the executive director at Family Forward Oregon, says the administration’s latest policy was done to create deliberate chaos and believes there is a reason services for children are being targeted.

“What this administration is attempting to do is disinform and de-educate the next generation of voters,” she said. “They are attempting to make it so their kids will not be ready to participate in the democratic process when it’s their chance to take over.”

If Head Start programs are required to exclude children based on immigration status, Rayfield’s office says Oregon could lose over $3.1 million each year in funding, impacting nearly 5,000 kids across the state.

Williams says it’s not just undocumented kids and parents that will feel those impacts.

“If your program has any number of children that could be covered by these changes, that whole program is at risk of closing its doors. This is going to hurt all families that engage with Head Start,” she said.

Nationally, more than half a million families will be impacted by the policy change.