Throughout her career, Ross said she has seen a number of incremental pay bumps, including an increase after she earned an associate degree in 2021. That year, her salary was about $47,000. But the most significant change in her income came in 2022, she said, when Washington began implementing the D.C. Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund in an effort to boost wages in the child care sector. The initiative provided funds to make early educators鈥� salaries equivalent to K-12 public school educators.听

Ross received an additional $14,000 that year and her pay has continued to increase. Today, she makes around $67,000. The additional income has allowed her to buy a home and enroll her children in after school activities like boxing and gymnastics.听

The Pay Equity Fund 鈥� the first program of its kind in the United States 鈥� has been as a model for improving early educator retention, creating stability for a workforce largely made up of women, , in an industry with one of the in the country.听

But despite its popularity with educators and advocates, the fund has faced instability over the years and now it鈥檚 on the chopping block. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Friday, April 10 that included a to the Pay Equity Fund, which would eliminate the wage supplements that provided the city鈥檚 early childhood teachers with higher salaries. 

Bowser that what she hears most from families is that they want more opportunities for child care and they want it to be less expensive. But the Pay Equity Fund is 鈥渘ot a child care affordability fund, it’s more of an income support fund for child care workers,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t does not respond to what people are saying.鈥�

Ross is one of more than in D.C., who would be drastically impacted by this change. Without the extra dollars she receives through the program, her salary would drop precariously, to the point that making the commute to work in D.C. wouldn’t make much economic or logistical sense. She lives over an hour away by car, and with her experience, education and credentials, she could likely find a job in the public school system where she lives in neighboring Prince George鈥檚 County, Maryland. A job like that would bring benefits and a stable salary, she said. 

鈥淵es, everyone loves the Gan,鈥� she said, referring to the early childhood center where she works. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a special place. But everyone has to live in the real world. They have to pick between the love for their job or their income. Without pay equity, it doesn鈥檛 make any sense,鈥� Ross said. Her partner has encouraged her to think about the long term, but she said she鈥檚 having a hard time asking herself,鈥淚f they cut the money for me, what is the plan?鈥�

The Struggle for Consistent Funding

Created through the District鈥檚 budget and administered by the , the Pay Equity Fund initially delivered direct payments to eligible educators. During its first year, early childhood teachers received a one-time payment of , depending on their role and employment status. In 2023, the fund offered teachers up to four quarterly payments of up to $3,500 each. Then , the model shifted: instead of educators applying individually and receiving direct payments, licensed child care programs that met the requirements could opt in and receive funding through a payroll formula. 

The voluntary program was designed to help providers recruit and retain staff by offering more competitive wages, and its reach has been substantial. was distributed to over 4,000 home- and center-based child care providers during the initiative鈥檚 first two years, and went to 365 child care facilities in 2024.

This isn鈥檛 the first time the program has faced instability. In April 2024, Bowser suggested fter a , the D.C. Council , but advocates warned that with the increase in participation, more money was needed. That same year, to make budget recommendations for the program, which led to the Early Childhood Educator Pay Scales Amendment Act of 2025, a measure that for early educators. 

Some centers in the city, including the Gan, absorbed the cuts so that the teachers’ paychecks would be unchanged, said Noah Hichenberg, director of Gan HaYeled. 

To be fully funded in fiscal year 2027, the Pay Equity Fund , said Anne Gunderson, a senior policy analyst at D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute. The program has grown more expensive because of its success, she noted. While the program had lower participation in its first few years, it has since grown in popularity. from Mathematica shows that after the first two years of implementation, there was an in D.C., about 7% higher than the estimated levels in the absence of the program. 

Gunderson said more teachers have enrolled in the program, stayed in their positions and gone back to school to pursue an associate or bachelor degree, with the goal of being able to earn a higher income upon graduation. 

鈥淭he fact that we鈥檙e able to increase utilization is a good thing,鈥� said Gunderson. 鈥淣ormally this would be something that would be celebrated.鈥� Instead, it has resulted in a more expensive program, limiting the number of educators who are able to take part. 

LaVonda Butler-Means, an assistant teacher at Gan YaHeled, is one of the teachers who was motivated to pursue a higher level of education. The first year of Pay Equity her salary jumped from $43,000 to over $50,000. Encouraged, she enrolled in an accelerated program to get an associate degree, for which she estimated cost her around $26,000 out of pocket. Her goal was to become a lead teacher at the Gan after graduating in May, a move that would bring her a $10,000 raise. If the fund is eliminated and the increase doesn鈥檛 come through, she said she will have to look for another job.

鈥淭here is no way I can go back to make what I was making and sustain life,鈥� Butler-Means said.  

One of the challenges of building a sustainable funding pathway for the Pay Equity Fund, explained Jamal Berry, president of Educare DC, an early learning program, is that it takes time to see the impact. that access to high-quality child care is a worthwhile investment, but the success of programs are often realized across a child鈥檚 education, which do not always translate into an immediate win. 

But leaders at programs participating in the Pay Equity Fund do report benefits, including lower staff turnover. 

Hichenberg credits the Pay Equity Fund with elevating the quality of care and stabilizing the workforce at his program. Of the 27 educators who work at the Gan, 23 have been there for more than three years since the Pay Equity Fund began. He anticipates it will be much harder to hire people at a lower salary level if the program gets cut. 鈥淚ts鈥� not just a burden or headache, it’s a more volatile experience for our youngest learners,鈥� he said.  

Staff turnover at Educare DC has also fallen since the Pay Equity Fund was implemented, and more staff are receiving additional education credentials, said Ronnell Nathaniel, the program鈥檚 vice president. Like at the Gan, her staff has benefited from the pay increase. Some teachers have shared that they鈥檙e purchasing their first home, she said, though the fact that the funding is in jeopardy has worked to undercut the staff鈥檚 sense of security and stability. 鈥淭he inconsistency is every year,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou have to be concerned about that.鈥�

Gunderson anticipates that the impact of gutting the Pay Equity Fund would be felt most keenly in programs serving infants and toddlers, which are the most expensive to maintain because of high staffing ratios. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e the first to go,鈥� she said. Without a dedicated funding stream for the Pay Equity Fund, each budget cycle poses tough choices about which programs to fund and which to cut.  

鈥淲e鈥檝e scored a touchdown and now we鈥檙e fumbling the ball,鈥� said Berry. 鈥淪tates like New Mexico and New York are moving in this direction,鈥� he gestured forward with his hands, 鈥渁nd we are moving backwards.鈥�

Advocates Prepare to Push Back

Advocates are gearing up for a fight to save the program. Ahead of the budget release, educators and supporters turned out in protest at the John A. Wilson building in downtown D.C., where the local government is headquartered, as part of a . The national is slated for May 11, and advocates are encouraging child care providers to close or operate on a reduced schedule to show the impact of their services. 

But as compared to 2024, when the program first came under fire, it鈥檚 been harder to galvanize support for saving the program. LaDon Love works at Spaces in Action, a grassroots advocacy organization in Washington, D.C. that played a significant role in the 2024 effort to save the Pay Equity Fund and is involved again this year. Love said that when she goes and speaks to early childhood educators, they think the major fight is behind them. 鈥淲e won, right?鈥� she said. Many do not realize their salaries are on the line again.  

When asked if the parents feel some outrage at the cuts and how it could impact the teachers who look after their children, Butler-Means shrugs. 鈥淪ome take it really seriously,鈥� she said. 鈥淥thers it doesn’t matter to them as long as their kids have somewhere to go.鈥� 

There are a few options that advocates and policymakers are exploring to keep the fund intact. One route involves creating a dedicated funding stream for it, similar to what has done in shoring up their own early childhood infrastructure. Another solution is to develop a new for Washington, D.C., which would increase revenue by adding a broad-based value-added tax to businesses. Experts believe this tax could raise as much as $500 million, and could be routed to social services programs that are on the chopping block, like the Pay Equity Fund. But, a tax like this would likely require a phase-in or implementation lag of a year, meaning that programs that could be funded by it would face a shortfall in the interim. An indefinite pay cut may loom too large for Ross and Butler-Means, pushing them out of their current roles, even with the possibility of a more stable funding source in the future. 

But there is something positive to have come from all of this, said Hichenberg, the Gan鈥檚 director. 鈥淭he Pay Equity Fund has given all of us a gift of what is possible when pay is raised, and that has been beautiful to see,鈥� he said. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 a stabilized workforce, more content teachers, more robust work-life balance and vacations,鈥� he added. 鈥淚t has allowed our core group of educators to stay stable for a number of years and allowed us to move forward as a school, improving quality in the classroom and smoother transitions for the parents. These have always been our goals. But the Pay Equity Fund has been the element of stability that has allowed for it.鈥�

More recently, though, the preschool decided to establish protocols for another kind of emergency: the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the area. 

Ever since the start of the second Trump administration, when immigration enforcement activity across the country intensified, staff and families have experienced extreme stress and anxiety about the possibility of masked agents apprehending children at their own schools, said Leah Cates, executive director of Second Street Youth Center. (Previously, education settings like Second Street would鈥檝e been protected from immigration raids under the so-called sensitive locations policy, but the administration that designation in January 2025.)  

Cates is glad she put that new lockdown protocol in place, she said, because they鈥檝e had to activate it twice already. 

One of those times, a teacher heard a young boy at the school yell, 鈥淧istola! Pistola!鈥� 鈥� Spanish for 鈥済un鈥� 鈥� after he saw, through a window, an ICE agent with his weapon drawn, trying to detain someone on the street right outside the school.

鈥淲e had to pull our children off the playground, bring them in and immediately go into lockdown,鈥� Cates said. 

Some children go on walks in the community with teachers throughout the day, she added. During lockdowns, the staff use radios to communicate about the presence of ICE and determine whether groups on walks should return to the school or go to a nearby church or the fire department to seek immediate shelter. 

Their fears are not unfounded. So far, five of the 210 children enrolled in the state-funded preschool, which serves ages 3 to 5, have experienced a parent or primary caregiver detained by ICE, said Cates, who is keeping track of the impact on her school community. Many other students have relatives who have been detained, deported or otherwise apprehended by the federal agents. More than 80% of the students are from immigrant families, she added, and most are from South and Central American countries. 

Second Street offers just one example of the terror echoing through homes and early childhood programs across the country, in red and blue states, in rural and urban communities, and in documented and undocumented families. 

Researchers at the Center for Law and Social Policy, a national, anti-poverty nonprofit, have been examining the impact this administration鈥檚 immigration agenda is having on young children and their caregivers.

Between June and December 2025, CLASP staff held focus groups with 56 鈥渁t-risk鈥� immigrant parents and primary caregivers of 74 children ages 6 and under. They also interviewed nearly 70 individuals who provide services to these families 鈥� many of them as early care and education providers, but also some home visitors, health care workers and others. Their findings, which anonymize the participants, are detailed in a pair of reports 鈥� centered on the experiences of young children and their immigrant families, and focused on early care and education providers in their communities.

The interviews were conducted in seven states: Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, Texas and Washington. In those states, immigrant families with young children range from 13% of the population in Michigan to 41% in New Jersey, according to from the Urban Institute, which combines from 2022 and 2023. Nationally, about 24% of children ages 5 and under have at least one immigrant parent. 

What emerged from the research is a clear picture of communities that are experiencing toxic stress and trauma, said Kaelin Rapport, policy analyst at CLASP and an author of both reports. 

鈥淧eople are really scared, and they鈥檙e struggling immensely,鈥� Rapport said. 鈥淐are providers are not feeling secure. Parents are struggling to feel safe themselves. Children are internalizing these stressors and these pressures.鈥�

The concern that many immigrant adults feel, Rapport added, is preventing some of them from leaving their homes, whether it鈥檚 to go to the grocery store or to work. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 confining the entire family inside this emotional pressure cooker,鈥� Rapport said.

Many parents attempt to shield their young children by avoiding conversations about immigration enforcement, yet their fears and anxieties still permeate the household.

鈥淚t was very clear that children are feeling the trickle-down effects of stress,鈥� said Suma Setty, senior policy analyst for immigration and immigrant families at CLASP and an author of the two reports. 

During an interview, the director of a child care center near Dallas shared with Setty that, before 2025, children in the program used to be so curious about visitors who came to the center. Now, when they see new faces, they hide behind the teachers鈥� legs. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 been a marked change she has observed,鈥� Setty said. 

Cates, who was interviewed for the CLASP reports and shared details about the experiences of her preschool community with 社区黑料, has seen the way information about immigration enforcement reaches children at Second Street 鈥� and how they respond. 

It鈥檚 a regular practice at the preschool for staff to ask children how they鈥檙e feeling each day, she shared. One day, a little girl said she was scared. Her teacher told her she is safe at Second Street. But the girl said, 鈥淣o, ICE can get me,鈥� then started to cry, Cates recalled. 

鈥淭he child knows,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey may not understand everything, but they know someone was taken in their families. They see the upset of parents, the upset of family members.鈥�

Then, she added, they take what they learned and tell their friends. Cates and other staff have overheard children talking about ICE on the playground, she said. 

鈥淲e think we鈥檙e doing a great job of shielding children, but little children have big ears. They put their listening ears on, and they hear everything,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not doing as good a job as we think. Those 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds are hearing, and being affected by, the trauma.鈥�

In interviews for the CLASP report, Rapport said, several families and early care and education providers described children as 鈥渃lingy鈥� now. Some children who had been sleeping independently through the night are now insisting on sleeping in bed with their parents. Others, he heard, are less friendly, more emotionally reactive, more frightened of strangers and less adaptable to changes in routine. 

As for the caregiving staff he interviewed, Rapport said a word that comes to mind to describe their predicament is 鈥渄esperation.鈥� They are stressed and traumatized from the past 15 months too. They鈥檙e also depressed, burned out and dealing with compassion fatigue. 

鈥淧eople who work in child care and early education do it because they love children and want children to succeed in life. They want children to have a healthy upbringing,鈥� Rapport said. 鈥淭hey pour so much of themselves into that work. They鈥檙e pouring from that well, and sometimes that well runs dry 鈥� for themselves and their families.鈥�

Most early care and education providers are underpaid, working in under-resourced programs, and in some cases are immigrants themselves or have immigrant family members to think of, the researchers said. Yet, as they write in the report focused on providers, 鈥淓CE service providers are being asked to do more than the work that they trained for; they are asked to be immigration law experts, administrative law experts, second parents, and even work for free.鈥�

That certainly rings true at Second Street Youth Center. 

In addition to the new lockdown protocols, the preschool has made changes to other procedures. 

The program has implemented 鈥渧ery stringent rules鈥� around access into the building. 鈥淚f we don鈥檛 recognize who you are, we aren鈥檛 letting you into the first doorway,鈥� Cates said. The maintenance staff, as part of their duties, now regularly walk a two-block radius around the building to scan for ICE activity. Families know to text school staff about any ICE activity they鈥檝e seen or heard about in the area, and staff then distribute the message to all families so they can make alternative pick-up arrangements for their children. 

On top of that, Second Street has held events to educate parents about their rights. The school partnered with an immigration attorney who volunteered to help families make a plan for their children in the event something happens to them. 

The work is taking a toll on staff, she said, noting that staff are increasingly asking for a day off here and there because 鈥渋t鈥檚 just all too much.鈥� 

鈥淏ut my staff 鈥� understand the No. 1 concern is the health, safety and well-being of children,鈥� Cates emphasized. 鈥淏efore we do anything else, our job is to keep children safe.鈥�

The child care closure at UNO is reflective of a concerning trend: Across the country, universities, school districts and hospitals are shutting down affiliated child care programs at an alarming rate as the cracks in America鈥檚 child care system begin to widen into fissures.

Since the beginning of 2025, a growing number of institutions have closed or put forth plans to close on-site child care programs that serve employees and, in the case of universities, student parents. These include universities such as , , and the , along in Washington, Arizona, and Kentucky. During the same time, public K-12 districts 鈥� including in Michigan, in Missouri and in Colorado 鈥� have announced similar closures, as have hospital systems in , and .

In almost every case, administrators are pointing to rising costs as a key culprit. Indeed, absent public funding, large institutions cannot run a sustainable child care business, particularly as most institutionally-affiliated programs offer tuition discounts to employees. In the case of Baptist Health, a nonprofit health care organization in Arkansas, the system said it $2 million a year operating two of its child care centers.

While there may have been a time when such losses were manageable, these institutions are being buffeted by other headwinds. Many colleges, universities and school districts are dealing with declining enrollment numbers that have . A key federal funding program that helps colleges and universities subsidize child care for student parents 鈥� Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) 鈥� has been held flat, which is a functional decrease in the face of inflation and rapidly rising child care costs.

Meanwhile, hospital systems are struggling with Medicaid cuts, rising labor costs, and tariffs increasing the costs of imported medicines and supplies; The American Hospital Association a 鈥減erfect storm of financial pressures.鈥� 

The rash of institutional closures should be a stark warning about the future of employer-sponsored child care. That term usually conjures the concept of private companies offering on-site centers or subsidies for child care as a workplace perk. But in practice, these institutions function similarly: They operate on-site child care for their community members, such as staff, students or patients 鈥� and in many cases, the programs have been around for decades. In a sense, we might consider institutionally-affiliated child care programs the best-case version of employer-supported care. The institutions are often anchored in public missions, subject to greater accountability and backed by generally reliable funding streams. Yet, even these programs are disappearing.

If institutions designed to serve the public can鈥檛 sustain employer-linked child care, it raises a larger question about how realistic it is to . 

It seems clear that, reluctant as the decision may be, child care quickly finds itself on the chopping block when budgets tighten. Often, it is viewed as a nice-to-have for institutions, even while it鈥檚 a must-have for families. When programs close and families lose subsidized care, they鈥檙e often forced into a wild scramble for a spot among scarce options. With the aforementioned headwinds only projected to worsen, more closures are, unfortunately, likely on the way. 

To be clear, the closures don鈥檛 signal that on-site child care is inherently flawed. In fact, the passionate reaction of families and providers show just how valued these programs are. The question is, how should such programs be funded? A model that relies on institutions themselves bearing the cost seems to be breaking down. Similarly, depending on a single funding stream, like CCAMPIS, is clearly risky, as it keeps programs in a constant state of vulnerability 鈥� just one unfavorable grant cycle away from collapse.

What鈥檚 needed, instead, is a way to wrap institutionally-affiliated child care into a broader publicly-funded system, as is done in nations like and . 

The child care sector may well be entering a phase where Band-Aids like incentivizing employers to offer child care benefits like on-site programs or stipends can no longer hold back the bleeding. If universities and hospital systems 鈥� to say nothing of Fortune 500 companies like and 鈥� are increasingly unable or unwilling to maintain their child care programs despite evidence of their positive impacts, then a course correction is needed. 

Policymakers are rushing to incentivize employer-sponsored child care at a moment when the American economy is slowing down and financial headwinds are picking up. If there鈥檚 any good news, it鈥檚 that about five thousand years ago humans invented a way to pool individual resources and redistribute them for collective benefit. In other words, the antidote to institutional child care closures is the same as the antidote to mom and pop child care closures: tax dollars. 

Every child who starts at Lemay Child and Family Center in St. Louis County receives a developmental screening during their first month of attendance.

Based on these screenings, kids can receive speech or occupational therapy at the center, and staff can connect families with community support like help sourcing healthy food.

鈥淭he economy right now is just really challenging,鈥� said Denise Wiese, the center鈥檚 executive director. 鈥淪o we feel that those extra supports we give parents and children are really critical.鈥�

More than 60% of the children the center serves qualify for a state subsidy program that helps cover the cost of day care for low-income and foster children.

But if lawmakers approve a proposed $51.5 million cut to that program, Wiese told The Independent, the center could be forced to roll back services or reduce scholarships that make child care more affordable.

The cuts are part of a laid out by Republican state Rep. Dirk Deaton of Seneca, chairman of the House Budget Committee, that would eliminate incentives the state currently pays on top of the basic child care subsidy rate.

Deaton told the committee the enhancements were created before the state started paying market-rate costs for child care.

鈥淲hen those were put in place, the rates weren鈥檛, in some cases,100% of market rate,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n a lot of cases, we鈥檙e already paying the market rate. So why would we be paying more than the market rate?鈥�

For child care providers, Wiese said, losing these payments will be 鈥渄evastating.鈥�

鈥淭hat increase for us over the standard daily rate is critical because we welcome any child, regardless of the family鈥檚 income level or the child鈥檚 developmental level,鈥� Wiese said. 鈥溾�f those enhancements get cut, we will have no choice but to reduce some of the services that we provide for these children.鈥�

Casey Hanson, deputy director at Kids Win Missouri, told The Independent the proposed cuts would have an outsized effect on the state鈥檚 most vulnerable children.

The funding enables providers to cover losses if foster families need short-term or irregular child care. It also helps train staff to work with kids who have experienced trauma.

鈥淪ome people think, 鈥極kay, that funding just gets cut, and so they still get paid the market rate. They don鈥檛 get this extra bit,鈥欌�� Hanson said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 not an extra bit to be able to provide that additional therapy or additional support.鈥�

With the cut to their bottom line, child care providers may have to turn families away.

鈥淲hat decisions do they have to make?鈥� Hanson asked. 鈥淒o they have to lay off staff? Do they have to close?鈥� Do they just quit taking foster families?鈥�

Some facilities already hesitate to take on those families, Hanson said, and the proposed cuts would 鈥渄e-incentivize that even more.鈥�

The cuts come during a period of instability for the program. At the end of 2023, the state changed software providers to manage the subsidy payments, and technical difficulties led to a backlog of missed payments that .

Some day care providers closed under the pressure, and the stress continues today.

Demand for child care subsidies has , exceeding the amount of money appropriated to the program this fiscal year.

With available funds shrinking, the state鈥檚 education department launched a waitlist for the program at the beginning of March. Children under state care, like foster children, are exempted from the waitlist. Those who qualify based on their income, though, will have to wait until funds are available.

鈥淥ur system is already at or over capacity,鈥� Hanson said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have enough resources to serve the children and families that are qualified with this current [funding] structure.鈥�

Despite mounting pressure, providers are expected to see a long-awaited change in the way subsidies are paid that state officials promise will be initiated by this summer.

Currently, child care providers submit attendance logs and are reimbursed based on the number of days subsidy children are in their care. In May, the department plans to pay subsidies at the beginning of the month based on enrollment, not attendance.

Gov. Mike Kehoe championed the switch in his inaugural State of the State address last year.

鈥淲e will not allow late payments, or technology issues to put these small businesses at risk of not being able to provide for families in need of child care,鈥� he said.

The governor is still supportive of paying providers based on enrollment, but Deaton鈥檚 proposed budget could prevent this change.

Deaton鈥檚 budget plan includes instructions to pay 鈥渟olely on a child鈥檚 actual attendance and shall not be made prospectively, on authorization, enrollment, contracted slots or any other non-attendance-based methodology.鈥�

State Budget Director Dan Haug told the House Budget Committee Monday that the state would hold off on paying by enrollment in May if Deaton鈥檚 suggestion is signed into law for next fiscal year, which begins in July.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it would make sense to make a change in May and then go back on July 1,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat would not be good for the providers, moving them around with how they鈥檙e being paid.鈥�

Paying on enrollment gives flexibility to providers, Wiese said. A family may need to miss 10 days in a month, but the center can only get paid for five absences.

鈥淚f a family wants to spend their day with their child, that鈥檚 the best thing for the child,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f [the state is] paying us based on authorization, that slot is paid for whether that child is here or not.鈥�

With budget amendments forthcoming, Hanson hopes to see edits to benefit child care providers.

鈥淲e know that (lawmakers) care about children and families,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut sometimes these decisions don鈥檛 reflect that these [cuts] are going to be really painful for children and families in our state.鈥�

The Independent鈥檚 Rudi Keller contributed to this report.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com.

After struggling for months to sustain her child care business at home, Minerva Caba Toribio thought she would have to close due to rent increases and high costs. But now, she鈥檚 able to operate out of a classroom located on Granite Street in Worcester at the Guild of St. Agnes, the largest early education and care agency in Central Massachusetts. Caba Toribio has space for 10 children, with five currently enrolled and three others that will soon be joining.

鈥淲e serve Brazilian families, Latin American families, immigrant families,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey feel comfortable to see that we can speak the same language and we have the same traditions.鈥�

Caba Toribio will be able to use the space rent-free for two years. By saving on rent, utilities, meals, and other expenses, she hopes to restart her home-based child care service once the time is up.

It鈥檚 all part of a pilot program called the , formed in partnership by the Guild of St. Agnes 鈥� which serves almost 2,000 children across roughly 150 child care establishments 鈥� and the Worcester-based Seven Hills Foundation 鈥� which provides supportive services to children, adults, and seniors with disabilities and other life challenges. Their new family child care incubator 鈥� only the third of its kind in the nation 鈥� provides two classroom spaces that were empty due to a lack of staffing to two licensed educators to operate their child care businesses while they prepare to later offer the service in their homes. The program is meant to provide more child care slots in an area where demand is high but supply is low, while also making it easier for family child care entrepreneurs to get their start.

鈥淚n addition to expanding care to more children and families by using classrooms that were otherwise empty, we are able to share services such as transportation, healthy meals, and business support to the resident educators as they establish their new businesses,鈥� said Sharon MacDonald, president and CEO of the Guild of St. Agnes.

The program, which can accommodate up to 20 children, was modeled after in Boston, which was the first of its kind in the Commonwealth and provides short-term program space, resources, and training for newly licensed family child care entrepreneurs. The other incubator program in San Francisco in 2019 and has trained and established more than 100 new child care businesses, creating over 800 new child care slots.

鈥淚 was thinking about closing my business, so when I heard about the incubator, I thought, 鈥楾hat can’t be possible. I will have a space where I can keep working with the same families that I had at my home?鈥欌�� Caba Toribio said.

The other resident educator, Eva Fajardo Marroqu铆n, is a newly licensed provider who will lead the second classroom with 10 children.

Around 59,000 (70 percent) of infants, around 43,000 (43 percent) of toddlers, and around 10,000 (5 percent) of preschoolers in Massachusetts live in a child care . The state defines this as areas where for every three children there is only one child care slot, though there are regions in central Massachusetts where the ratio is greater than ten children to one slot.

Granite Street is in the heart of one of Worcester鈥檚 child care , according to Leslie Baker, program director for the Seven Hills Foundation鈥檚 Center for Childcare Careers.

The children鈥檚 tuition is covered by state subsidies, meaning the Guild of St. Agnes and the Seven Hills Foundation are not responsible for the educators鈥� salaries. A $1 million grant from the Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts allows them to pay for the building, the classroom equipment and supplies, and a full-time project coordinator who provides case management, business training, and professional development support for the two educators. (The foundation also provides grant funding to CommonWealth Beacon.) The educators will soon establish savings accounts so the coordinator can document their progress towards their long-term business goals.

Cost isn鈥檛 the only barrier that aspiring educators face in trying to open family child care businesses. Many, including Caba Toribio, face landlord resistance and struggle to find homes or apartments that allow family child care to operate. Others struggle with navigating the licensing process with the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care.

Many of the families served by the Guild鈥檚 child care programs qualify for (CCFA) vouchers from the state. But that system remains underfunded even after the Legislature approved Gov. Maura Healey鈥檚 proposal to change the income eligibility threshold from 50 percent of the state median income to 85 percent last year. That move added 4,000 low and moderate-income families to the program, but more than 30,000 children were on the statewide waitlist for the program at the end of 2025.

鈥淚t’s opportunities like this that are making sure we are creating pathways for early educators, because the more classrooms we can fill with great educators, the more slots that will become available for the littlest learners in our community,鈥� said Sen. Robyn Kennedy, a Democrat representing Worcester, at the pilot program鈥檚 ribbon-cutting event on Monday.

The Commonwealth鈥檚 early child care system continues to suffer from a due to low earnings, a lack of employee benefits, and subsequently high turnover.

Among family child care program owners and employees, just over 40 percent receive paid time off, around 25 percent receive paid sick leave, around five percent receive discounted child care, and less than 8 percent receive dental insurance and retirements benefits, according to a 2025 published by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. Just 4 percent of employees receive health insurance compared to 15 percent of owners.

鈥淚 don’t think we often think of childcare as a business,鈥� said Sen. Michael Moore, a Millbury Democrat who represents Worcester. 鈥淵ou can’t be successful if you can’t operate it, put the business model together, and be able to afford it.鈥�

Caba Toribio said many families prefer home-based family child care over center-based child care because it is often less expensive, more flexible, and tightly knit.

鈥淲e have a small group. Some parents prefer that. The children have the opportunity to feel like they are part of a family,鈥� she said. 鈥淗ere in the center, I keep the same concept. Because it’s a small group, they feel safe.鈥�

Baker and MacDonald want to ensure that the program is sustained after the educators move out in two years.

鈥淎s they eventually launch their business, part of the project is to backfill it and continue this on,鈥� MacDonald said. 鈥淥ne of the questions, obviously, is: What does it cost to do that without the grant funding?鈥�

They are confident that eventually, other cities and programs across the state will pursue their own incubator projects.

鈥淲e’re trying to develop a model that could be replicable by other family child care systems,鈥� Baker said. 鈥淲e’d like to be that resource for other systems that are interested in developing this.鈥�

This article is part of CommonWealth Beacon鈥檚 ongoing coverage of early childhood education issues and is funded, in part, by the .

This first appeared on and is republished here under a .

Child care during nontraditional hours 鈥� including early mornings, evenings, nights and weekends 鈥� is a growing need for American families. Flexible care with variable hours from week to week is also in demand.

In many homes across the country, work happens outside of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The best available data, drawn from the past decade, suggest that in some states live with a parent who works nonstandard hours, and that accommodate those schedules 鈥� though these figures rely on data collected before the pandemic. These data also indicate that work outside traditional hours is common in families that have lower incomes. 

Expanding access to equitable child care options requires careful attention to the diverse child care needs of working families. For a parent who starts a shift as a nursing assistant at 7 a.m., works overnight as a hotel receptionist or drives for a ride share service as a second job on the weekend, , as many licensed child care programs follow a more conventional schedule. Challenges also exist for parents who work jobs with rotating shifts, who not only require care outside of normal business hours, but also need the hours to be flexible. 

To ensure that working families can thrive, the child care sector needs more public investment in child care settings that offer care during nontraditional hours and increased support for the workforce needed to deliver it. When designing a universal child care system, policymakers must consider the growing population of parents working outside traditional business hours and should incorporate the following three principles.

Include home-based child care providers in policy design. Right now, most child care during nontraditional hours is , rather than by licensed child care providers. In other words, by people families trust who care for children in ways that resemble parental care. This type of arrangement 鈥� known as family, friend and neighbor (FFN) care 鈥� is in the U.S. child care system. This trend points to both a preference and a gap: Families rely on familiar, home-based care during these hours, yet the supply of licensed child care that is open during these hours simply isn鈥檛 there. Building a universal child care system that is responsive to families鈥� needs will require recruiting and investing in licensed family child care providers and FFN caregivers who operate outside of child care licensing systems. Building policies that include the full range of home-based providers will require creative solutions, such as community-based peer support groups and access to resources and materials related to caring for children. 

Create fair working conditions and compensation for providers who offer care during nontraditional hours. Increasing child care access for working families must prioritize investment in the workforce caring for children during . These providers face some of the in an already strained sector: low pay, unpredictable schedules, on-call demands for families that need last minute child care or need to change hours without notice, and the strain of balancing their own family responsibilities with offering child care. Many FFN caregivers provide child care for their families . Expanding child care options that meet the needs of families working nontraditional hours requires intentional strategies that ensure a livable wage for paid child care workers and compensation for FFN caregivers 鈥� many of whom indicate for their work. These approaches must also reflect that the cost of care varies by time of day. 

Right-size standards and regulations to reflect the realities of providers caring for babies and children during nonstandard hours. Finally, quality and regulatory frameworks must evolve to recognize that care at 10 p.m. does not look like care at 10 a.m. Children鈥檚 development during nontraditional hours is shaped by like shared meals, bedtime stories and quiet, unstructured time. Systems that measure quality solely through daytime standards risk missing 鈥� such as healthy sleep practices and creating calm and comfortable environments 鈥� while placing unnecessary burdens on providers. Universal child care systems should offer tailored professional development that reflects the realities of care at night and on weekends 鈥� focused less on building lesson plans and more on developing routines, relationships and supporting children through transitions like bedtime or early wake-ups.

As states and cities build universal child care programs, ensuring access to child care beyond standard work hours must be a central goal. By embracing a mixed-delivery system that values all types of care, investing in compensation and professional development, and developing appropriate standards, early adopters of universal child care initiatives can provide an example of how to create policies that meet the needs of all working families.

was originally reported by Lauren Nutall of .

ARLINGTON, TEXAS 鈥� In early December, drilling resumed near Mother鈥檚 Heart Learning Center.

Newly installed gas wells dot property at 2020 S. Watson Road, less than one mile from the day care. One day in December, the sound of fracking machinery was so cacophonous that children couldn鈥檛 play outdoors.

For gas companies and stakeholders, the project is . But many Arlington residents and experts say it could come at the expense of the community听鈥� especially its children.

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 社区黑料 Newsletter

In January 2025, the Arlington City Council unanimously approved a permit allowing French oil and gas company TotalEnergies to install 10 new gas wells in East Arlington, which has a heavy concentration of Black and Latinx residents. It marked the first time in over a decade that the city council approved a permit for a new drill site after years of community opposition.

Named Maverick, the new site also lies near three schools 鈥� Johns Elementary, Adams Elementary and Thornton Elementary. Five wells owned by the same company already occupy the plot of land near the new drilling site, which the company has owned since 2008.

Hydraulic fracturing 鈥� or fracking 鈥� is used to extract gas by pumping pressurized water, sand and chemicals into bedrock. Texas policymakers have lauded the activity as a boon to local communities, garnering $2.48 billion in state tax revenue in 2025, according to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Arlington is choked with hundreds of these gas wells. The city, which sits atop the Barnett Shale, is a modern-day Golconda. 听

But fracking has drawn sharp criticism from health experts, who say it could be linked to severe conditions like preterm births, congenital anomalies, lung diseases and childhood cancers.

The practice has also elicited backlash because of its role in accelerating the global climate crisis through greenhouse gas emissions. TotalEnergies has been embroiled in legal controversies for years, and its troubles have mounted in recent months. , brought on by a coalition of French environmental groups and more than a dozen municipal authorities.

The company has rejected proposed limits to its fossil fuel production. 鈥淚t makes no sense at all to prevent TotalEnergies [from] producing oil and gas that the global energy system still uses today,鈥� it 鈥淭he courtroom is not the right place to advance the energy transition.鈥�

The 19th interviewed Arlington residents about the impact fracking has had on their lives. They shared their fears about their grandchildren鈥檚 health, their experiences living in neighborhoods impacted by fracking and their reservations about TotalEnergies expanding operations in the city.

Devastated residents throughout Arlington

Ingrid Kelley, 69, has grown tired of the gas wells sprouting throughout North Texas. Several sit less than a mile from her house in East Arlington, and a pungent lingering scent of sulfur and something else that she can only describe as 鈥渞otten鈥� has settled into her neighborhood. She fears what might happen to her 4-year-old grandson, who lives with her and attends Mother鈥檚 Heart Learning Center.

鈥淚 can’t project and trace what all is going to affect him and all those that live around there and all those that are around these sites,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t’s very hard to project what’s going to happen, how many people are going to have increased cancer risk, respiratory disease, cardiac disease 鈥� all the things that go along with being premature or having congenital heart disease that affect you the rest of your life.鈥�

Her grandson 鈥� who was born in Arlington with a congenital heart disease 鈥� has had to undergo intermittent nebulizer treatment since he began attending Mother鈥檚 Heart in 2024, a treatment typically reserved for those who have lung complications. He had no prior respiratory complications, Kelley said. Kelley won鈥檛 open windows at home, fearing contaminated air from nearby fracking sites will seep in.

鈥淲e’re like one big science experiment here,鈥� said Kelley who, in 2016, became involved with . She is now on the board.

Edgar Bunton, who is in his 60s, moved to his home in southwest Arlington six years ago and lives less than 600 feet from more than a dozen wells. His wife began to experience frequent and unexplained migraines. Two of his grandchildren who live near these gas wells have respiratory complications, which Bunton attributes to the wells.

鈥淚 really got on board because of my grandbabies,鈥� he said.

The adverse health effects of hydraulic fracturing on children have been studied over the decades.

鈥淭his is a cumulative risk issue, because this is not just one chemical at a time people are being exposed to,鈥� said Meagan Weisner, a senior health scientist at Environmental Defense Fund and a former public health epidemiologist who has studied health impacts related to oil and gas development in Colorado. 鈥淭his is dozens of chemicals coming from more than just one site because they’re already near other wells.鈥�

According to Weisner, the contaminants released are dangerous to nearby residents not only during the drilling phase, which emits numerous toxic chemicals, but also after.

鈥淭here were a lot of parents that were reporting their children were feeling ill during the pre-production phase,鈥� Weisner said, which encompasses drilling. 鈥淪o it would not surprise me at all if these residents in Texas that are close to these 10 wells experienced adverse health impacts because of their proximity.鈥�

Children in particular are uniquely susceptible to harm. 鈥淲e saw health impacts in children extended out to two miles from the pad,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 don’t know if that would be the exact same in Texas, but we saw adults had reported significant adverse symptoms within a one-mile radius but, for children, it was within a two-mile radius, and that does track along the lines of children are just much more vulnerable.鈥�

The 19th reached out to the City of Arlington for comment. In an emailed response, the city only said that the drill site was approved because 鈥渋t met the 600-foot spacing requirement from protected uses, as outlined in the City鈥檚 Gas Drilling and Production ordinance.鈥�

TotalEnergies did not respond to questions from The 19th.

Before energy companies descended on Arlington, the sprawling land behind Phil Kabbakoff’s house was decorated with oak trees. When the company Chesapeake Energy arrived in his neighborhood, they were leveled and reduced to kindling. Now, a towering drill rig owned by TotalEnergies looms behind the 84-year-old鈥檚 home in their place.

Kabbakoff resides in the Glen Springs subdivision of southwest Arlington, the same neighborhood where Bunton鈥檚 grandchildren developed respiratory illnesses.

“A lot of these houses now are leased, and so people come and go, and we don’t know who they are,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e used to know everybody on the street.鈥�

Like other residents, he was upset that more gas wells were installed by Mother鈥檚 Heart. 鈥淲e were up in arms about it all the way around,鈥� he said.

While Kabbakoff would like to see sustained changes made to fracking practices in the city, he believes that Arlington elected officials will only continue to value the interests of gas companies despite protest.

鈥淭hey’re never going to change, not this council,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey don’t know anything about it. Nobody’s researched it. They could care less. They know they make money from it, and that’s all they’re worried about.鈥�

鈥楽acrifice zones are safe spaces for polluters鈥�

In 2005, landmen arrived to secure land for mineral ownership and drilling rights from Arlington residents. Ranjana Bhandari, founder of Liveable Arlington, was approached and ultimately declined.

鈥淭his is almost 20 years ago,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ecause I was a mother 鈥� I had a young child 鈥� I didn’t think that it made any sense to have that kind of pollution around our children.鈥�

At the onset of the fracking boom in Arlington, Bhandari spent hours poring over reports from other regions that experienced similar fracking booms, hoping for a glimpse of what this new development might mean for her city.

鈥淰ery quickly, they built 56 drill sites here, and they were spread out all over the city,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here’s literally one everywhere you see, one every few minutes.鈥�

She read studies about cancerous pollutants linked to childhood leukemia coming out of states like Colorado. In the neighboring city of Fort Worth, she saw reports that air quality was slowly deteriorating because of drilling-related emissions of benzene, .

鈥淏enzene is a serious, serious cat,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t’s a category one carcinogen. There’s no safe amount of it.鈥�

Bhandari recalled a particular moment when she and her family stopped at a red light directly across from one now-defunct drill site around 2011. Within minutes, she said, they began to feel sick. 鈥淭hat was my first inkling that we weren’t just looking at climate harm.鈥�

The discovery was bleak to Bhandari. By 2015, families in Arlington found themselves overwhelmed by the drill sites鈥� noxious fumes and the effects of fracking that rippled throughout the city 鈥� so much so that they decided to intervene. She created Liveable Arlington the same year.

鈥淲e were a mothers鈥� organization 鈥� mothers and grandmothers concerned about children’s health 鈥� and, through our campaigns and over the years, started learning many new things,鈥� Bhandari said.

鈥淲e focused on the science. We focused on the community,鈥� she continued. 鈥淚 started it as a concerned parent. We were much more focused on fracking near children, fracking near day cares and schools, and so some of our most successful campaigns and most of our advocacy was to stop expansion of fracking around eight sites in Arlington, which are right next to day cares.鈥�

Now 61 years old, she has seen the very problems she once read about penetrate her own community. And the repercussions have been more consequential for some communities than others. More often than not, Bhandari said, they鈥檝e settled disproportionately in majority Black and Latinx neighborhoods, like the one where Mother鈥檚 Heart is located.

鈥淭he burdens of fracking were so unequally distributed,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he other bigger picture that people seem to miss when they say, 鈥業t’s OK to put it somewhere else, just not near me,鈥� is that you always will preserve a safe place. Sacrifice zones are safe spaces for polluters.鈥�

The national nonprofit plans to the occasion with an 鈥渋ntentional year of celebration, reflection and doing what we鈥檝e always done 鈥� center the voices of educators,鈥� said CEO Michelle Kang. 

A century is a long time for any organization to exist. It is a long time 鈥� period. Thus, NAEYC鈥檚 centennial presents an opportunity for longtime early childhood educators and leaders to recognize the progress the field has made, and to consider why, 100 years later, some systemic issues remain unchanged. 

Founded in 1926 and first known as the National Association for Nursery Education, NAEYC has a long history of promoting high-quality education for children from birth to age 8, advocating for improved working conditions in the field, and helping families and the general public understand the value of early childhood education. Today, it is the largest early childhood education association in the country, with affiliates in nearly every state, reaching hundreds of thousands of educators through its research, advocacy and membership network.

Over the past century, NAEYC has been involved with a number of the profession鈥檚 major . The organization participated in the creation and expansion of , a federal program that provides high-quality early care and education to children from low-income families; collaborated on the development of the (CDA), a nationally recognized credential for the field鈥檚 educators; and built the first national to demonstrate quality in early learning programs.

But at the same time, the field has been defined by stagnation in critical areas, such as low compensation, insufficient public funding and a lack of professional recognition. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot of 鈥榯wo steps forward, one step back,鈥欌�� said Marcy Whitebook, who co-founded the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) in 1999. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not that we haven鈥檛 made progress. It鈥檚 that these problems we鈥檝e had for a long time endure.鈥�

Whitebook, a septuagenarian, recalled meeting with other child care workers in the 1970s and 1980s to campaign for better working conditions. At that time, these teachers felt their contributions to society were underpaid and undervalued. 

鈥淧eople who did the work had no rights, raises and respect,鈥� Whitebook said, referencing the of a campaign from that era. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 still true.鈥�

Few would dispute that. Early childhood educators today make an average of to care for and teach the nation鈥檚 youngest children, according to the CSCCE 2024 Workforce Index 鈥� despite a growing body of research and increased awareness among the public that the early years are foundational for learning and development, and deeply connected to a person鈥檚 eventual success. 

In a of the early childhood workforce, released by NAEYC in February, educators reported high levels of burnout and increasingly unstable personal financial circumstances. One teacher in California said, 鈥淚’m constantly worried about making rent and affording groceries, which distracts me during the day.鈥� 

Many teachers are also dealing with the consequences of working in understaffed programs. Teacher turnover remains high and recruitment challenging, largely because many educators leave the field for better-paying jobs elsewhere. 

What would most help them stay in the field, the survey respondents said, is better pay and more employee benefits. Instead, many providers are experiencing stagnant federal funding and a perceived reduction in public support. 

Carol Brunson Day, who became a NAEYC member in 1969 and later served as the organization鈥檚 president, believes that wages and compensation remain the biggest issue facing the field. 

鈥淭hat problem was there when I entered, and it鈥檚 still there,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e working on it, but we don鈥檛 seem to be getting the kind of traction we should be.鈥�

Day added: 鈥淯ntil we solve that problem, we are still going to have high turnover, which is not just not good for teachers, it鈥檚 not good for young children.鈥�

Day also spent 20 years as president of the Council for Professional Recognition, a nonprofit that NAEYC helped form in the 1980s to oversee the administration of the CDA credential. 

That credential, she said, has not only helped 鈥減roduce competent caregivers,鈥� but has also created a pathway for a racially, culturally and linguistically diverse workforce 鈥� primarily women 鈥� to advance their careers in early childhood education. As a result of getting many community colleges to recognize the CDA and award credits toward an associate degree, some early educators have been able to use their CDA as a springboard to earn four-year degrees and beyond. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not perfect yet,鈥� Day said, 鈥渂ut it鈥檚 there.鈥�

Kang called the credential 鈥渙ne of the best first steps into the field of early learning,鈥� noting that at her own son鈥檚 high school, students can pursue coursework to earn their CDA before graduation. 

鈥淚t has represented the path for so many people who would not otherwise have been able to be part of the field,鈥� Kang said.

Even still, it鈥檚 not a solution to the lack of professionalization that early childhood educators face. There is still, among much of the public, a perception that adults who care for babies and toddlers are not teaching, but 鈥渂abysitting.鈥�

鈥淲e have not gotten to a place where we fully understand, as a community and a country, that these are professionals doing this work,鈥� Kang acknowledged. 鈥淲e push back against the narrative that anybody who loves children can do this work.鈥�

That misconception likely perpetuates the low compensation in the field and the limited federal investment it receives. If the public and policymakers recognized the importance of the early years, they would, theoretically, want to pay the professionals who work with young children a living wage while also investing public dollars to boost quality and accessibility. 

鈥淭he entire system depends, basically, on very underpaid people doing the work,鈥� said Whitebook. 鈥淭he whole thing has been operating on cutting corners with the people who do it.鈥�

Indeed, the current structure of the system is unsustainable, said Kang, resulting in a 鈥溾�� of early care and education. And yet she finds herself thinking back to at least one point in the field鈥檚 history when that was perhaps not the case.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, in early care and education allowed the field not only to survive the disaster, but to come out of it, in some respects, stronger than before. That was also a time when many families and government leaders referred to early childhood education as 鈥渆ssential,鈥� though Kang said she hasn鈥檛 heard that sentiment expressed for several years now. 

鈥淭here is very little about COVID that I would say we want to go back to,鈥� Kang said, 鈥渂ut I do want to go back to that moment where policymakers on all sides of the political spectrum, families, community leaders recognized the importance of early childhood education and the investment needed to have it work well.鈥�

It proved that it is possible for public dollars to buoy early childhood education and to raise the stature of the professionals who work in the field, she noted. 

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to see us have another global calamity to get there,鈥� Kang said. But when she reflects on NAEYC’s 100 years and the narrative around high-quality early learning, she said one thing is clear: 鈥淲e need to support the professionals who are doing this work 鈥� so children can get everything they need to become the citizens we want them to be.鈥�

For Emily Knox and her wife, Forever Young Child Care Learning Center in Manchester was a dependable cornerstone of their daily routine for more than two years. But on March 5, her wife arrived to pick up their son and found the center’s staff in tears. It would be, they abruptly learned, the center’s final day, as staff members rushed about, packing up children’s art projects and medical paperwork to give to parents.

鈥淚t was surreal, honestly,鈥� Knox said. She was aware of the pressures that the early childhood education industry faced in Connecticut, from a lack of available spots to an underpaid workforce, but watching her son鈥檚 own facility suddenly shutter, seemingly without warning, was “an eye-opening experience.鈥� 

The closure of Forever Young hits as vanishing federal aid and runaway Medicaid costs threaten an ambitious new initiative to expand affordable child care.

The Early Childhood Education Endowment, as a vehicle to create thousands of new affordable child care program slots by the early 2030s, is projected to receive $30 million from the budget surplus after Connecticut鈥檚 fiscal year ends June 30 鈥� less than a tenth of what lawmakers pledged last June.

Gov. Ned Lamont鈥檚 administration said Monday it鈥檚 unclear whether the fiscal bleeding has stopped.

鈥淚t is too early to speculate,鈥� Lamont鈥檚 budget spokesman, Chris Collibee, said Monday, adding that while global economic instability is a concern, the administration remains committed to supporting affordable child care.

鈥淕ov. Lamont has taken a leading role both locally and nationally to increase investment in early childhood education,鈥� Collibee said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 fully dedicated to making sure that we deliver on that vision and promise.鈥�

鈥淚 think we are all committed to the vision that we’ve set forth, and we stand ready to take the action that we need to take based upon the funding that is available to us,鈥� added Elena Trueworthy, commissioner of Office of Early Childhood Education.

The state already opened 1,000 Early Start program slots in January and has earmarked nearly  from the endowment for various expenditures, including grants for local school districts to expand their preschools, increasing the rate that providers are paid and a planned study that will assess the need for a health insurance subsidy for employees.

Eva Berm煤dez Zimmerman, executive director of Child Care For CT, said that the Manchester closure reflects broader pressures eroding the existing care infrastructure.

“The system is interconnected,鈥� and the network鈥檚 financial needs are greater than even the hoped-for deposit in the hundreds of millions, she said. “I really do hope that elected leaders understand that you can’t build up a system and ignore the pressure that鈥檚 gotten us to here.鈥� 

CT still forecasting big surpluses 鈥� but not for child care

Lamont responded to the child care crisis with a big step 13 months ago, proposing that Connecticut dedicate a portion of the massive budget surplus it generates annually toward early childhood education.

But much of that surplus is already accounted for. Using a series of aggressive caps set in 2017, Connecticut has since left an average of $1.9 billion unspent each year, which represents 8% to 9% of the General Fund.

About three-quarters of that, roughly $1.4 billion, involves certain income and business tax receipts lawmakers cannot spend easily. These protected dollars are immediately stripped from the budget and used chiefly to whittle down Connecticut鈥檚 pension debt, a that ranks among the largest, per capita, in the nation.

The remaining tax and fee receipts, federal grants and other revenues flow into the budget, where additional spending controls typically force hundreds of millions in additional savings each year.

And 鈥� with an initial investment of $300 million 鈥� they and Lamont stipulated much of this second-tier savings would be dedicated to the child care initiative each year.

that would translate into a $309 million deposit in the summer of 2026 and almost $560 million 12 months after that.

Medicaid spending plagues CT finances for 3^rd year in a row

But while the program that saves funds to reduce pension debt continues to save big dollars, the second-tier savings effort is in jeopardy. And some of the problems that shrank this year鈥檚 estimated payment to the child care program could get much worse.

One big obstacle is Medicaid, a federal health care program run in partnership with states. Medicaid demand has remained greater than pre-pandemic levels, even though enhanced federal aid ordered in response to COVID expired in 2023.

the state Department of Social Services will overspend its $3.7 billion Medicaid line item by $85 million this fiscal year. The department overspent on Medicaid by  last year and almost  two fiscal years ago.

Congress last July ordered cuts to Medicaid and other programs worth more than $1 trillion by 2034 to help finance big federal tax cuts aimed chiefly at high-earning households.

The Lamont administration hasn鈥檛 projected yet what Connecticut could lose next fiscal year. But , a New Haven-based policy group, estimated in January that federal Medicaid grants and aid sent directly to households 鈥� such as health care-related tax credits 鈥� would be down about $579 million in the next state budget cycle.

That federal tax relief also has softened state tax revenues.

Connecticut links its corporate tax system to the federal code, as do several other states. So, when Congress extended federal corporate tax breaks set to expire, Connecticut lost hundreds of millions in expected revenues from big business.

CT has options to bolster child care services

But this doesn鈥檛 mean Connecticut lacks options to bolster funding for child care.

Analysts estimate the state program that forces lawmakers to save a portion of income and business tax receipts will have a banner year, grabbing to pay down pension debt.

Lamont already has proposed scaling back these savings rules 鈥� albeit just once 鈥� to return $500 million to 2.2 million Connecticut residents in the form of a $200-per-person state tax rebate.

The checks would be sent in late October, just days before the gubernatorial election, and some Republicans have charged the Democratic governor鈥檚 proposal is merely a political stunt to help him win reelection to a third term.

But many of Lamont鈥檚 fellow Democrats in the House and Senate majorities have said those savings rules should be rolled back somewhat to permit greater investments year after year in child care and other core services, including health care, education and municipal aid.

Legislators from both parties have advocated big ongoing tax cuts this year, which also would necessitate saving less to reduce the state鈥檚 pension debt.

House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, a proponent of the Early Childhood Education Endowment, has said a modest amount of tax relief could be considered, but said nothing should be allowed to jeopardize a program that could benefit thousands of children from low- and middle-income households.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a reminder we鈥檙e going to have to prioritize at some point,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 personally think that, before we start implementing new tax changes to the tax code, we ought to be very mindful of how important this child care endowment could be in the long term.鈥�

But House Minority Leader Vincent J. Candelora, R-North Branford, who also supports greater state investment in affordable child care, said Lamont and the General Assembly aren鈥檛 doing enough to trim spending in other areas.

Republican lawmakers have said Connecticut should look to tighten raises for state workers, cut Medicaid programs for undocumented residents and seek greater efficiencies at public colleges and universities.

鈥淒emocrats were more interested [last year] in a press release than creating a sustainable early childhood program,鈥� Candelora said.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a .

In doing so, it will become the latest in a wave of states that have established standalone departments for early care and education in recent years, joining the ranks of , and .

The shift toward unified governance structures comes at a time when the sector is getting more attention and, in some states, more investment. That, plus an effort to improve families鈥� experiences in accessing public programs for them and their young children, seems to be driving this trend.

Whether a state鈥檚 governance structure can make a meaningful difference in how its system of early childhood education functions, though, is a question worth asking 鈥� and it鈥檚 one many early childhood policy leaders are trying to answer.

. . . . . 

Every state has a unique organizational framework, but historically, programs and services for young children and their families have been housed across several common agencies, such as an education department, a department of health, and a department of welfare and social services.

That was the case in Colorado before it launched its Department of Early Childhood in 2022, explained executive director Lisa Roy, and it made for a disjointed experience. 

鈥淗aving things scattered across different agencies just makes things confusing for families,鈥� Roy said. 

And that is the case in Illinois now, said Teresa Ramos, secretary of the new department that is slated to on July 1. 

鈥淲hat excites me, over time, is building a system that can more seamlessly serve parents and providers,鈥� Ramos said. She wants to lift 鈥渟ome of that burden鈥� off of families and educators who have to keep track of 鈥渨hich 12 people to call鈥� and ultimately simplify their experience of engaging with government services. 

The other consequence of programs being spread across different departments is that it creates a leadership vacuum in early care and education, said Elliot Regenstein, a lawyer who has studied early childhood governance and recently wrote a on the topic.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a complicated ecosystem,鈥� Regenstein said. 鈥淲hen oversight of that ecosystem is splintered across multiple agencies, with none as their primary expertise, it shows.鈥�

Cynthia Osborne, executive director of the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center at Vanderbilt University, which , used the pandemic as an example. During that time, a state education secretary鈥檚 focus was likely on reopening K-12 schools, even though their department also oversaw Head Start and pre-K programs, while the health secretary was probably thinking primarily about hospitals and health care, not child care licensing and quality. 

鈥淲hat you had in early childhood was a system entirely run by middle managers,鈥� Regenstein said. 鈥淗alfway up the org chart, they may or may not be empowered to interact with the legislature. Their orientation was to run a grant program, rather than think systemically about how those pieces fit together.鈥�

He added: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not a knock on those people. But when it was literally nobody鈥檚 job to think about the system as a whole, it just made everybody鈥檚 job harder.鈥�

The Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center has identified 13 states that have established standalone departments or offices of early care and education. In those 13 states, there is a senior leader whose entire job is to think about, organize and prioritize issues affecting early childhood. That change is both symbolic and actual 鈥� or it can be, when managed thoughtfully. 

Another dozen or so states 鈥� while not going as far as creating a new department 鈥� have made meaningful changes around early childhood governance and leadership, Regenstein added. 

鈥淭he question I鈥檇 ask,鈥� he said, 鈥渋s has a state taken action to elevate leadership in early childhood and done something to unify oversight? Even if they haven鈥檛 gotten all the way there, I want to give credit for progress.鈥�

Of course, the formation of a new government agency, and the appointment of a senior official to lead it, is not in itself a victory. Only once those pieces are in place does the hard work begin. 

鈥淓arly childhood programs are historically under-resourced. Putting them all together doesn鈥檛 give you some kind of economy of scale 鈥� 鈥榦h, good, we鈥檙e all here and we鈥檙e all under-resourced,鈥� said Elizabeth Groginsky, secretary of New Mexico鈥檚 Early Childhood Education and Care Department, acknowledging the challenge these departments face. 

She added: 鈥淲e鈥檝e focused on building a system of programs and services that are well connected and aligned. We鈥檝e done a really good job. We still have much work to do.鈥�

. . . . . 

One thing all of these states seem to have in common is a governor who is willing to prioritize young children and families and make early childhood education a signature part of their platform. 

Govs. JB Pritzker of Illinois, Jared Polis of Colorado and Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico all ran campaigns that emphasized early childhood education and later stewarded the creation of a standalone department. That is no coincidence, Osborne of the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center said. 

For this organizing structure to be successful, she said, 鈥渋t has to come from the governor.鈥�

Helene Stebbins, executive director of the Alliance for Early Success, made a similar point. 鈥淲hat matters more than any org chart or structure is leadership. Full stop,鈥� said Stebbins. 鈥淲hen you have a strong governor, it is like wind in the sails.鈥�

That significance doesn鈥檛 evaporate once the department has launched. These governors appoint cabinet-level officials, such as Roy in Colorado and Groginsky in New Mexico, to lead the new agency and work alongside them as they make decisions that are relevant to early care and education providers, children and families. 

In practice, these states end up with a dedicated early childhood advocate attending cabinet meetings with the governor and other department heads.   

鈥淚t鈥檚 not just symbolic. It鈥檚 really important,鈥� said Osborne. 鈥淭he secretary of early childhood is sitting side-by-side with the secretaries of 鈥� education and health. They can make decisions at that level, think about how to work together and leverage resources, in real-time.鈥� 

That鈥檚 an enormous improvement over the 鈥渕iddle manager鈥� dynamic that Regenstein described.

鈥淚t is much more likely that you鈥檙e going to be able to get the resources that you need,鈥� Osborne added. 

In Colorado, that has had a real impact, Polis shared. 

鈥淚t certainly elevated the discussion about early childhood education in our state,鈥� Polis said. 鈥淒r. Roy attends every cabinet meeting. We talk about early childhood education every week. Before, no one owned it in the state.鈥�

That access has given Roy opportunities to communicate directly with the governor about nuances in the field and to get a broader perspective of his competing priorities, she said. 

鈥淭he governor is a partner with me in thinking through these things,鈥� Roy said, adding that 鈥渉aving that access and having his ear has been so important.鈥�  

That kind of centralized leadership and governor鈥檚 support have been essential in enabling New Mexico to make groundbreaking progress on early care and education in the last several years, according to Groginsky. 

鈥淭here鈥檚 no way this kind of rapid, system-building growth could鈥檝e happened with three different agencies, middle-level managers and staff working cross-departmental,鈥� she said, referring to the recent transformation of early childhood education in the state, including the launch of the first statewide universal free child care initiative in the U.S. 

It is much more efficient and effective, she added, to channel all that time, energy and resources 鈥渋n one direction, under one leader.鈥� 

. . . . . 

This recent burst of activity in the development of early childhood education departments has precedent. In the early 2000s, a trio of states 鈥� Georgia, Massachusetts and Washington 鈥� each created a new agency to focus on early childhood. 

Georgia鈥檚 Department of Early Care and Learning, , is considered to have been the first state-level early childhood education department, said Amy M. Jacobs, the agency鈥檚 commissioner since 2014. She said her office has received numerous requests and questions from leaders in other states who are now trying to stand up a similar governance structure (which she describes as a 鈥渙ne-stop shop鈥� for families). 

To those leaders, she typically tries to impart a few key lessons. 

One, she said, is to take their time. It鈥檚 OK to go slowly, especially if it means getting it right. Georgia鈥檚 department underwent many iterations before the final pieces were in place in 2017 鈥� a full 13 years after it launched. 

Another, Jacobs said, is to create a system that makes sense in the context of their state. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no 鈥榬ight鈥� way to create your agency. There are no 鈥榬ight鈥� set of programs,鈥� she explained. 鈥淓very state is going to have their own pathway.鈥�

In practice, that means that New Mexico鈥檚 department may have more programs and services under its umbrella than Colorado鈥檚, and that shouldn鈥檛 be a critique of either agency. 

Finally, Jacobs said, it鈥檚 important to understand that anyone involved in this work may need patience if they want to see ideas about the field of early care and education meaningfully change. 

鈥淐ulture change will take longer than you ever think it will,鈥� Jacobs said, noting that after more than two decades, she believes that the perception of early childhood educators as 鈥渂abysitters鈥� has changed and that the field is now highly valued by Georgia state leaders and policymakers. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a long process. 鈥� It just takes a lot of time to change that mindset.鈥�

The formation of these departments is in itself momentous, many policy experts said, because it signals that early childhood is an issue that鈥檚 so important it deserves 鈥� literally 鈥� a seat at the governor鈥檚 table. But their existence does not guarantee their long-term success. 

Many of these agencies are still very new, having been ushered in by the sitting governor. One of the major tests is whether they can withstand leadership change 鈥� a new governor, perhaps from an opposing party, who maybe isn鈥檛 as keen on putting early care and education toward the top of their platform, said Regenstein. Some states, like Georgia and Massachusetts, have survived that type of leadership transition. 

鈥淲e still cannot answer the question to states, 鈥業s this something we should do?鈥欌�� said Osborne. 鈥淏ut we think there are models of these new departments that really can make it so you鈥檙e prioritizing early childhood, so you can use funds more efficiently, and decisions can be made that will enhance programs.鈥�

We are developmental cognitive neuroscientists who study how children鈥檚 daily interactions with parents, caregivers, teachers and peers shape , and development. We are not anti-AI, but we are extremely concerned about corporate efforts to market AI toys to parents and educators of young children. We do not yet know how many young children are already engaging with generative AI bots, but if are any indicator, this is a rapidly growing market. 

Some companies say their toys and devices are 鈥渁ge-appropriate鈥� and will support children鈥檚 learning and development, but that鈥檚 not always the case. For instance, the makers of Kumma, a plush teddy bear, promised to build conversational skills for children from ages 3 to 5. But the toy was pulled from the market last year after it was caught encouraging researchers testing it . 

Beyond these physical safety risks, we have essentially no data on how interacting with generative AI 鈥渇riends鈥� will shape very young children鈥檚 foundational brain, socioemotional and language development. Rather, the preponderance of evidence about how brain development works in the earliest years of life suggests that families should proceed with caution before letting their littlest children play with these new technologies in the form of toys.

We are not alone in this concern. Together with scientists around the world who study the exquisite, human-to-human interactions that shape early brain and cognitive development, we recently released an about the risks of direct infant-AI interaction. 

Decades of scientific studies paint a clear picture of optimal development in the first few years of life. Babies and toddlers grow and learn through daily, moment-to-moment interactions with their close caregivers. Indeed, humans cannot develop fully without these foundational interactions. Present, responsive, real-time interactions shape children鈥檚 language, sculpting their growing understanding of new words, grammar, pronunciation and social intentions. 

These real-time interactions shape children emotionally, helping them map their inner experiences to their outer perceptions. There is evidence that when a caregiver and a young child interact, 鈥� from eye contact to to heart rates, oxytocin levels, and even . 

Unlike AI models, which can parrot human-to-human interactions, caregivers pair their words with touch, eye contact and facial expressions that signal their love and attention. Real conversations include inside jokes, local dialects, family lore, and the distinct conversational patterns that make a family a family and a community a community. 

Development is about real-time rhythm, and every unique caregiver-child dyad develops their own. It鈥檚 not about perfection. It鈥檚 about presence, something an AI model can never and will never be able to provide. 

In fact, toys that imitate social responsiveness may interfere with an infant鈥檚 developing sense of how people relate to one another. The better these toys get at mimicking a parent, a child care provider, a grandparent or other adult caregiver, the more concerned we should be, particularly in the earliest years when infants and toddlers are developing a distinction between self and other  鈥� a growing awareness that the other humans who surround them each have inner worlds of their own. 

From a policy perspective, . There is much more to learn about these new technologies before parents let their babies play with them. 

Without these policy protections, parents and educators must take the lead, that simulate social reciprocity, replace face-to-face caregiving, or are designed to replace soothing behaviors that infants and toddlers need from caregivers in order to build attachment, trust and human connection.

The earliest recorded scientific experiments with electricity happened 3,000 years ago. Today, access to electricity has raised the standard of living for nearly the entire world. Still 鈥� after more than a hundred years of widespread use, safety standards and engineering to wield electricity for the common good 鈥� no responsible adult would let a child anywhere near it in raw form. 

AI has the power to improve human lives, but these are early days. We take for granted that we cover our light sockets to protect all our community鈥檚 children. We must take the same protective stance with AI.

While teachers of all grades shape their students鈥� lives, kindergarten teachers play a unique role in that they build a formative early bridge from home to school. They introduce fundamental academic skills, build foundations for social and emotional development and help young learners develop confidence, curiosity and a lifelong love of learning. 

鈥淎s an educator, my mission has always been clear: to ensure every student, regardless of background, zip code, or circumstance, has access to a high-quality education,鈥� Gray wrote in a published by the NEA Foundation. 鈥淚 see my work as an act of justice.鈥�

Gray has started a number of programs at her school to support students in need, including working with classes to raise funds to donate to peers and creating opportunities for families to volunteer as tutors. She has also participated in various teacher advocacy efforts. Gray has testified before her state鈥檚 legislature about issues such as mentorship and compensation, and has participated in the , which aims to improve the teaching profession and student outcomes.

In the conversation below, she reflects on her career, the importance of mentorship in education and what drives her to make change 鈥� whether launching a new initiative at her school or using her voice to advocate for change across her profession. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

I’m curious about your career and how you got to this point.

I have been an educator for 13 years in the public school system in Texas. I have [spent] the majority of my years teaching kindergarten in Temple ISD [Independent School District] in Temple, Texas … but I have taught at multiple campuses with different demographics.

One campus I was at was all about teaching students social-emotional skills … I got a chance to build relationships, and I learned a lot [about] emotional growth.

I had an opportunity to teach my first year at a campus that had 鈥� a lot of attendance issues. On my first meet-the-teacher night, I had maybe three parents show up. By the end of the year celebration, every single parent and grandparent showed up. That was probably the turning point to let me know I was in the right space. 

What has mentorship meant to you in your career?

Before I started as a teacher, I was working at a day care, and I was in a pre-K 3 class, and that was really my first official class, but it wasn鈥檛 at a public school. When I had the opportunity to get my certification, I got a chance to teach in the school district with my mentor, Leah Suchomel, who taught kindergarten. She taught me so many things that I didn’t get in the books or in the classroom. Yes, I learned a lot about 鈥� the different theories and Harry [and Rosemary] Wong鈥檚 but until you鈥檙e actually in a setting with a teacher that is willing to trust you enough to teach her class 鈥� and just that compassion that she showed, not only to me but to her students 鈥� I still take [that] to this day.

How have you paid that forward as a mentor?

My mentee came from Texas A&M. Her mom was an assistant principal. Her grandma was a teacher. Her aunt was a principal. So she came from a long line of educators, but when she told them she wanted to be a teacher, they asked her, 鈥淎re you sure?鈥� Because it is different from when they were teachers. 

I thought about what my mentor taught me, and I tried to see what my mentee needed to be successful for when she would become a mentor. It鈥檚 like a torch being passed.

How did the pandemic change your experience as a teacher?

During the pandemic, you could see a difference in the social-emotional status of our students. Before the pandemic, we were trying to get kids to learn how to use technology, but after the pandemic, I noticed my students wanted to have me read them big books. They didn’t want to just always be on a tablet to learn. I mean, that’s a tool as well, but they really craved that attention. 

Right now, I feel like we have so many students that are having to learn how to regulate their emotions. When they are playing 鈥� or working with classmates, they have to learn, How does this person feel before I react? If they’re on an iPad, nobody is there to tell them, 鈥淗ey, you’re being rude on this game.鈥� They have to learn 鈥� the body language of someone who needs space. They missed a lot of that during their first years of growing up.

You鈥檝e started a few programs and clubs at your school. Why did you start the Stars Helping Stars program?

I started that program when I began here at this school. I saw one of my students that was kind of struggling. I overheard him tell one of his classmates that he had slept in his car last night. And then his mom had called me and let me know that they had lost their housing. So, what I did with our kids 鈥� since it’s a STEM campus 鈥� we repurposed items from recyclables such as snowglobes, jewelry boxes, guitars, water guns and containers and sold them in order to get gift cards for homeless families at our school. 

The next year, that effort evolved into a tutoring group. Parents would come in and tutor kids on Tuesdays before school or after school. 鈥� And we saw a significant increase in our students’ accountability. 

What about the Breakfast Club program?

Once a month I’ll have mentors that will come through and just do different activities with about a group of 25 kids that range from kindergarten all the way to fifth grade. The high school volleyball team volunteered to come in, and they played volleyball. A group of soldiers came, including my spouse, and they did different stations where they had to talk like a soldier, act like a soldier, sound like a soldier鈥�. Maybe one day they want to grow up to be in the military. We don’t know, but just planting those seeds so they can see things outside of their home and outside of the classroom, that鈥檚 the whole point.

Do you think being someone who gets things off the ground is part of why you won this award? 

I do believe that it plays a big role. 鈥� That and also just being a person of action. That picture behind me 鈥� that is me signing with the governor of Texas. (House Bill 2 authorized $8.5 billion in new . A portion of that funding went toward teacher and staff pay raises.) And that day, I sat at the table speaking for 384,000 teachers that are in Texas that needed that extra pay. There were other teachers in different parts of Texas 鈥� who had to work pick-up jobs during Christmas just to make ends meet. And I wanted to do something about it. And so just being able to tell our stories together, bring our stories together 鈥� to sit and pass a bill of one of the largest allotments that has been passed in Texas. 

As the only elementary school teacher to win this NEA Foundation award, what do you have to say about the early years?

I think that early childhood sets such a big seed 鈥� for our students to have character, to have work ethic, to understand the importance of [this] journey. 鈥� I always have kids that end up being best friends, and I have at least one or two that end up being best friends all the way up to high school.

I’ve been teaching long enough to have those memories. Thanks to Facebook, I can see where they tag [me in photos from when] they were in kindergarten and now they are getting ready to graduate. It’s like, 鈥淭his all because of you, Ms. Gray.鈥� 

How do you cultivate friendships and relationships that last a lifetime? 

Part of it is the atmosphere in a classroom. It’s just everyone uplifting each other. And if someone doesn’t, if you don’t like what someone else said, it’s okay to disagree, but it’s not okay to just totally not listen to that person.

That鈥檚 what some of it is. Also, just being able to have 鈥� relationships with families. 

Whenever we have parent conferences 鈥� I don’t just do the beginning of the year, I do the middle of the year as well because I want [parents] to know that we are partners. The majority of the time they’re here with us, with the teachers, not at home. And so just building their relationship 鈥� you can understand like, 鈥淥h, I understand the reason why he may need the extra hug today.鈥�

In early 2026, a small group of first-grade students at Lucy Wortham James Elementary School in St. James, Missouri, sat together sounding out words.

Kim Williams, the school鈥檚 principal, watched as they worked through the lesson. One young boy caught her attention.

鈥淭his student had struggled significantly the year before and often avoided reading tasks,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his time, I watched him carefully tap out each phoneme, blend the sounds and read a multi-syllable word independently.鈥�

What stood out wasn鈥檛 just that he read the word correctly 鈥� it was how he approached it.

鈥淗e didn鈥檛 guess. He didn鈥檛 look to the teacher for the answer. He applied a strategy he had been explicitly taught,鈥� Williams said.

She has observed several meaningful changes in students over the past year.

鈥淪tudents are approaching unfamiliar words with greater confidence,鈥� she said. 鈥淚nstead of guessing, they are using strategies and applying phonics patterns they鈥檝e been explicitly taught. You can hear the difference 鈥� they are sounding out words more accurately and blending more smoothly.鈥�

The breakthrough she observed is part of a broader effort across rural central Missouri. Through the Rural Schools Early Literacy Collaborative, literacy coaches from the national nonprofit TNTP work directly with teachers in Phelps County schools, helping them implement structured reading instruction grounded in the science of reading.

Coordinated locally through the Phelps County Community Foundation, coaches visit classrooms regularly throughout the school year. They observe instruction, model lessons and provide feedback, strengthening foundational reading instruction for kindergarten and early elementary students.

The effort is taking place at a time when reading proficiency remains a challenge across Missouri and the nation. According to the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress, often called the Nation鈥檚 Report Card, only 27 percent of Missouri fourth-grade students scored at or above the proficient reading level, while 42 percent scored below the basic level.

Education leaders say improving early literacy is critical because reading proficiency by the end of third grade is closely linked to long-term academic success.

Before the collaborative began, the biggest challenges for K鈥�1 teachers in St. James R-I centered on consistency, skill gaps and limited structured support.

鈥淭eachers were using a variety of reading strategies, programs and materials,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淲hile many approaches had strengths, there was not a cohesive, research-aligned framework guiding K鈥�1 reading instruction across classrooms. This sometimes led to uneven student outcomes and confusion when students moved between grades.鈥�

Some students entered kindergarten with limited literacy exposure, and teachers needed clearer tools to systematically build phonemic awareness, phonics and decoding skills. Identifying and addressing skill gaps early was challenging without a unified approach.

鈥淔rom my perspective as principal, the most significant change since TNTP coaches began working with our teachers has been the shift to consistently structured, research-based literacy instruction grounded in the science of reading,鈥� she said.

Instead of learning strategies in isolation, teachers now receive feedback tied directly to classroom instruction. Coaching conversations are specific, practical and immediately applicable, accelerating growth in instructional practice.

鈥淚 have seen a significant shift in teacher confidence, collaboration and mindset around early literacy instruction,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淭eachers understand how students learn to read, have a stronger grasp of foundational skills 鈥� especially phonemic awareness, phonics and decoding 鈥� and can clearly articulate the 鈥榳hy鈥� behind their decisions.鈥�

That clarity has reduced uncertainty and increased instructional precision.

鈥淓arly literacy is no longer just an initiative,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a unified commitment supported by knowledge, collaboration and confidence.鈥�

A first-year teacher finds support

For Ashley Wood, a second-year kindergarten teacher in Newburg, the coaching model provided unexpected support.

鈥淵ou see so many posts online telling new teachers to run from the profession,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut when you have a support system 鈥� coaching, small groups, someone to talk through what鈥檚 working and what鈥檚 not 鈥� it makes you want to stay. It takes away that feeling that if a student struggles, it鈥檚 all your fault.鈥�

Wood said the approach reduces 鈥渢eacher guilt鈥� 鈥� the feeling that struggling students are solely the teacher鈥檚 responsibility.

Her literacy coach, Kelly, follows a predictable rhythm each month: a Zoom planning meeting before a visit, in-person classroom observation, immediate feedback afterward and ongoing email check-ins.

鈥淚t definitely makes you feel like you are not alone,鈥� Wood said. 鈥淎s a new teacher, there are so many moments where you wonder if you鈥檙e doing it right. Having someone come in, observe and then talk it through with you 鈥� it changes everything.鈥�

At the beginning of the year, some students did not yet recognize their starter letters 鈥� A, M, S and T 鈥� or the sounds they make.

鈥淣ow almost every single one of them knows capital, lowercase and sound,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat growth has been huge. Kindergarten is such a growth year. They come in barely recognizing letters, and by the end they鈥檙e reading.鈥�

Wood admitted feeling nervous before Christmas break, wondering whether students would retain their skills.

鈥淚 sent home decodable passages because I thought, 鈥楾hey鈥檙e going to forget everything.鈥� But they came back after break and every single one of them just took off. It was like something clicked,鈥� she said.

The improvements teachers are seeing in classrooms are reflected in early assessment data from participating districts.

In Rolla Public Schools, more than 94 percent of first-grade students demonstrated year-long growth in reading after coaching support began. In Dent-Phelps R-III School District, the share of first graders reading at grade level increased from 25.5 percent in the fall to 89.4 percent by the spring.

At Newburg Elementary School, 100 percent of kindergarten and first-grade students demonstrated growth in reading assessments, with gains that more than doubled typical annual progress.

From classroom change to district strategy

For April Williams, assistant superintendent in the St. James R-I School District, the impact is most visible during classroom visits.

鈥淎s an administrative team, we met every Wednesday morning and did literacy walks,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e wanted to be grounded in the work, too 鈥� not just supporting teachers but really understanding what effective literacy instruction should look like.鈥�

Those visits give district leaders a firsthand view of how instruction 鈥� and students 鈥� are changing.

鈥淛ust last week I was in a kindergarten classroom, and the words students were decoding and understanding 鈥� for February 鈥� I couldn鈥檛 believe it,鈥� she said. 鈥淪eeing that difference in students鈥� abilities has been incredible.鈥�

What began as a local effort in rural Phelps County is now expanding across Missouri.

Through the state鈥檚 Comprehensive Literacy State Development (CLSD) grant, the coaching model is being implemented in 60 schools statewide, including 40 K鈥�5 schools and 20 middle and high schools. Literacy coaches trained in the same model used in Phelps County now support teachers across multiple regions of the state.

Education leaders say the expansion reflects growing recognition that improving reading outcomes requires not only strong curriculum but also sustained coaching and support for teachers.

For Williams, the goal is simple: ensure the work continues long after the original grant funding ends.

鈥淧robably what changed the most is we renewed our commitment to literacy district-wide,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 just something happening in elementary anymore 鈥� we started asking how the entire district supports literacy and keeps it at the forefront of everything we do.鈥�

She added: 鈥淭he goal is for this model to live beyond the grant 鈥� and beyond all of us. So that it simply becomes what we do.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com.

States including Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi have garnered attention in the media for offering lessons other states can learn from 鈥� a February New York Times opinion piece heralded the trio as 鈥�.鈥�

Yet the Southern surge narrative has, so far, largely ignored another commonality among those states: tremendous improvements in early childhood education.

The most commonly cited reasons behind the trend relate to , specifically a commitment to phonics-based pedagogy, and a willingness to who are not reading on grade level. Importantly, this did not happen overnight, and it didn鈥檛 occur in isolation: Rachel Canter, who led a Mississippi education policy and advocacy group that was instrumental in shaping the state鈥檚 approach, the New York Times that the 鈥淪cience of reading is really important 鈥� it was a key piece of what we did,鈥� but added that 鈥減eople are missing the forest for the trees if they are only looking at that.鈥�

Indeed, in the same 2013 legislative session in which Mississippi passed the , which codified many of its reforms, the legislature also passed its first state pre-K bill, the (ELCA). The ELCA was a state-funded initiative that established voluntary, free or low-cost, high-quality pre-K programs that operated through partnerships between private pre-K providers, school districts and, in some cases, Head Start programs. These collaboratives had to meet all put forth by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER). Over the years, enrollment in the Collaboratives has : When they were launched in 2014, the Collaboratives served 1,774 children and by the 2022-23 school year, student enrollment in pre-K had reached 6,800.

In on how the ELCA came about, Canter explained that with major early childhood and K-3 reforms both passing at the same time, the policies were designed to align. For instance, the pre-K legislation required participating providers to administer a school readiness assessment that lined up with the one students would be asked to take in Kindergarten. Substantial funds were invested in instructional coaches for pre-K teachers, and in providing pre-K teachers with access to literacy professional development opportunities comparable to what the state鈥檚 K-3 teachers were being offered.

Around the same time, neighboring states were engaged in their own reform efforts. In 2012, the , commonly referred to as Act 3. This unified early childhood governance within the Louisiana Department of Education and set the stage for broad reforms. Over the next few years, Louisiana required every child care program that received a dollar of public money to participate in the state鈥檚 accountability system, which included getting a minimum of two quality-focused inspections per year. The bar was also raised for teacher qualifications, requiring all lead teachers in publicly funded early learning settings to have at least an , a state-based professional credential.

The efforts paid off. Researchers that from 2016 to 2019, the percentage of publicly funded early childhood education programs in Louisiana that scored proficient or above on the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) rating scale 鈥� a commonly-used measure of teacher-child interactions 鈥� rose from 62% to 85%. For child care programs specifically, excluding state pre-K and Head Start classrooms, the percentage of programs scoring proficient or above increased even more impressively, from 40% in 2016 to 73% in 2019. The kids in those classrooms, of course, are many of the same kids who later on the National Assessment of Educational Progress鈥� fourth grade literacy exam.

Alabama, meanwhile, has long been a leader in pre-K. In 2001, the state launched First Class Pre-K, an initiative that funds full-day pre-K across a variety of school- and community-based settings. With a focus on quality, the system has been since 2006 as part of the organization鈥檚 . However, funding constraints kept the program small. In the mid-2010s, though, First Class Pre-K began to scale. Between 2012 and 2024, the number of participating 4-year-olds from about 3,600 to more than 24,000. Around the same time, the state made a major investment in coaching for pre-K teachers, and its coaching model grew from serving around 200 teachers in 2012 to nearly 1,500 as of 2024. When Alabama began leaning fully into the science of reading with its , pre-K teachers in public schools also started getting on the subject.

Connecting early care and education reform to the Southern surge is, of course, an exercise in correlation and not causation. As Canter pointed out with regard to the science of reading, this is a multifaceted story and assigning too much credit to any one factor is unwise. Moreover, other states that have made major investments to their early childhood education systems 鈥� such as California and its universal transitional kindergarten program 鈥� have not to date seen the same types of literacy gains. What does seem fair is speculating that in a counterfactual world where Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama make the same reforms to K-3 but ignore early education entirely, the Southern surge would have been blunted. 

These states, then, offer important lessons for both early childhood and K-12 stakeholders around the importance of tightly and thoughtfully aligning both systems 鈥� in both directions 鈥� and ensuring there are enough resources present to support educators. Leaders don鈥檛 have to look far: groups like the have been developing alignment frameworks and tools for years. What鈥檚 needed is a renewed commitment, particularly among state and district leaders, to seeing early care and education not as a nice-to-have, a wholly separate enterprise, or even worse, a competitor 鈥� but as a core part of ensuring all children are reading on grade level. That might not be a miracle, but it would sure be an accomplishment.

When she recently separated from her partner, it became critical that she get a job. She was hired for a position with a nonprofit last summer, and shortly after that, she went online and applied to get a subsidy so she could afford child care for her three children, ages 2, 4 and 8 years old.

Two months went by before she got a response, she said, only to be told that she had been put on a waitlist. It gave her 鈥渁 moment of panic,鈥� she recalled. 鈥淚 need my bills to be paid but I also need somebody to watch my children.鈥� There was no way she could afford the out-of-pocket cost of child care on her pay. It costs a year, on average, for center-based care for a toddler in Virginia.

A growing number of parents have been confronted recently with a situation similar to Moyer鈥檚. Strapped for child care funding, have started waitlists for child care subsidies 鈥� or lengthened existing ones 鈥� putting new applicants in limbo when they need immediate help paying for care. Virginia is one of 14 states that have recently instituted or expanded waitlists, according to Child Care Aware of America. 

Moyer ended up asking neighbors and friends to watch her children, 鈥減eople that I normally wouldn鈥檛 have asked to watch my kids,鈥� she said. She installed some cameras in her house to make herself feel more secure. But 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 as comfortable as I would have been had they been in a licensed, insured day care,鈥� she noted, adding that she had to work around the schedules of the people who agreed to watch her children, even though she wasn鈥檛 able to control her own schedule at work. There were some days when the person she had arranged to watch her kids canceled at the last minute, sending her scrambling to find someone else.

鈥淚t was very, very emotionally stressful, because I had never been away from my kids up until this moment and suddenly I鈥檓 leaving them at home with other people,鈥� she recalled.

Moyer had to wait four months to get off Virginia鈥檚 waitlist, she said. Then, when she was finally taken off, she had to fill out all the paperwork again, which required getting documents from her employer and finding a child care center that she could enroll her children in. It took her another two weeks before she was actually getting help, she said. 

Waiting lists for child care subsidies are not new. 鈥淚t has been true for a long time that there are not enough resources to provide subsidies to every eligible family,鈥� said Anne Hedgepeth, senior vice president of policy & research at Child Care Aware of America. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not meeting families鈥� needs with our current subsidy system.鈥� In 2021, were eligible for subsidies under state rules, but just 1.8 million received them, or less than a quarter of those who qualified. 

But the child care sector has, in the past five years, received more funding that it typically does. It received in federal COVID relief funding meant to prop the sector up, which some states to eliminate waitlists, among other changes. The Child Care and Development Block Grant, which mostly funds state subsidies, received a increase in funding in 2023 and then another increase in 2024. Some states, for their part, also devoted some of their own dollars to the sector.

Now with the billions in COVID relief funding gone, and with big state budget cuts looming due to to Medicaid and other safety net programs passed by Republicans in Congress, many states have searched for ways to reduce spending. Waiting lists have become a common tool. States are 鈥渘ot able to serve all eligible families, and they鈥檙e having to do things like institute waitlists that limit families who are coming in,鈥� Hedgepeth said. 

Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Dakota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia have recently started putting at least some parents on waiting lists for child care subsidies or have significantly expanded the number of parents on their lists, according to Child Care Aware of America. Missouri also   a waitlist starting March 1. 

The number of states with waitlists has nearly doubled since early 2022, according to Child Care Aware of America. 鈥淢any on this list did not have waitlists when there were additional dollars available,鈥� Hedgepeth said, and 鈥渨ere able to serve all of the families that were applying.鈥�

This situation 鈥渄oes tell us that the funding amount that was flowing to states during the pandemic was an amount that better reflected the total need in the system,鈥� Hedgepeth said. The increase in states using waitlists as an approach to cut costs is bad on its own, but it鈥檚 also a canary in the coal mine, she said, signaling deeper troubles in the child care system.

鈥淎 single state may not be able to replace federal funding,鈥� she noted, but if it鈥檚 only spending the bare minimum without dedicating general funds 鈥渢hat鈥檚 a real opportunity for state policymakers.鈥� , for example, has instituted waitlists without investing any additional funding for the sector. 

For parents like Moyer, the impact of state waitlists can be devastating, Hedgepeth said. Many families don鈥檛 bother to go through the steps to get a subsidy or might not even know that they鈥檙e eligible in the first place. For those who actually fill out the paperwork and submit it, 鈥渨hich is often no easy task,鈥� she said, finding out that they won鈥檛 get any help for a number of months or, possibly, indefinitely 鈥渃an be really disheartening.鈥� Parents likely face impossible choices about how to make sure their children are cared for while they work. 鈥淭his is not something they have time to wait for,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey need care today for their kids.鈥� That鈥檚 especially true for mothers, as women鈥檚 labor force participation has , and many parents child care problems are keeping them from work. 

Providers, meanwhile, often suffer as well. In Indiana, for instance, the freeze in new subsidies left some providers who were counting on enrolling new infants with empty infant classrooms. The freeze, along with deep reimbursement cuts, has put them in a difficult financial position. 鈥淵our highest rates of pay comes from your infants,鈥� Dionne Miller, who runs Room to Bloom Learning Academy in Indianapolis, previously told 社区黑料. 鈥淲e no longer have that stream of income coming in.鈥� More than 100 providers closed last September and October after the state鈥檚 changes were put in place.

On top of the expiration of federal pandemic relief funds, ongoing federal funding has become increasingly unstable. In December, the Trump administration announced that, after resurfacing fraud allegations in Minnesota鈥檚 child care and other public programs, it was freezing all child care funding to the state and reinstituting a Defend the Spend requirement for the Child Care Development Fund, which provides key funding for state subsidies across the country. With the change, all states now have to provide justification, including receipts and photo evidence, in order to draw down the money that was already appropriated by Congress. 

The administration also sought to completely freeze CCDF and other federal funding to five states, although that action has been by a judge. And the administration rescinded Biden-era rules that paid child care providers in a more stable way. 

Given all of this, Hedgepeth said, 鈥淚 would not be surprised to see more states institute waitlists.鈥� 

鈥淲e are in some ways back to the pre-pandemic conversation of the way in which child care and early learning are situated in our priorities,鈥� she added. It鈥檚 鈥渘ot receiving the full support that it needs despite what we know about its critical importance to families and economies.鈥�

Updated March 27, 2026:听In response to this story, YouTube terminated six channels for violating the platform鈥檚 terms of service and one channel for violating its spam policy.

In a video that has been played almost 50,000 times since it was posted five months ago, two cartoon children sing along as they guide viewers through the experience of riding in a car amid a vividly colored, utopian backdrop. 

At first, the seems harmless. The song is upbeat and informative. The animation aligns with the promised subject. 

Except, hold on a second, did those lyrics just say, 鈥淩ed means stop, and green means right鈥�? And why are the characters changing in every frame 鈥� different hairstyles and colors, slightly different outfits for the girl and boy? 

Worst of all, for a video that purports to be 鈥渆ducational,鈥� the visuals are sending precisely the wrong message about riding in a car. 

The video opens with the children riding, without seatbelts, in the front row of a moving vehicle. The next scene shows the girl defying physics, floating alongside a moving car, while the boy is seated in what appears to be the hood of the vehicle as it travels backward down a busy street. The third and fourth scenes show the children walking in the middle of the road with moving cars behind them. 

It鈥檚 not hard to imagine how the video could have gotten so many views. 

Maybe a parent needs to complete a task 鈥� fold some laundry, get dinner ready, hop in the shower 鈥� and is searching for an age-appropriate video on YouTube to entertain their toddler during that short time. Perhaps that toddler, increasingly independent and prone to running off, needs a better grasp of road safety. 鈥淰room Vroom! Car Ride Song | Educational Nursery Rhyme for Kids鈥� presents itself as a win-win solution. 

But children鈥檚 media experts say this is AI-generated 鈥渟lop,鈥� and that it has infiltrated the internet, preying on young children and their unsuspecting caregivers. 

鈥淲e鈥檙e at the beginning of a monster problem, and we have to get hold of it quickly,鈥� said Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Temple University and senior fellow at Brookings Institution who studies child development. 

She and other researchers, including Dr. Dana Suskind, a professor of surgery and pediatrics at the University of Chicago, have that AI-derived products for babies and children need to be reined in. 

鈥淭his is not neutral content,鈥� said Suskind, author of the forthcoming book . 鈥淚 think of this as toddler AI misinformation at an industrial scale. It鈥檚 very risky for the developing brain.鈥�

It鈥檚 hard to say just how pervasive this type of content is, but it鈥檚 clear the problem is widespread and getting worse. One published by video-editing company Kapwing in November 2025 found that about 21% of YouTube鈥檚 feed consists of low-quality, AI-generated videos. 

, the creator of the 鈥淰room Vroom! Car Ride Song,鈥� has posted more than 10,000 videos since its first release just seven months ago, in August 2025. That鈥檚 an average of about 50 new videos each day. , meanwhile, has published about 3,900 videos to YouTube in its entire 20 years on the platform. 

The cognitive decline associated with the consumption of AI slop 鈥� such as a shortened attention span, decreased focus and mental fog 鈥� is sometimes referred to as 鈥渂rainrot.鈥� But when the audience is children, there鈥檚 not much to rot, Suskind said. Because a child鈥檚 brain is still in its early development, still being built, what you get instead, she said, is 鈥渂rain stunt.鈥�

鈥淓very experience is building a million new neural connections,鈥� Suskind said of children who are still in their early years. 鈥淵ou will be unintentionally wiring the brain in incorrect ways.鈥�

That comes at a cost. A child may absorb the implicit messages of something like the Vroom Vroom video and end up mimicking the 鈥渄ownright dangerous鈥� behaviors they saw depicted there, said Carla Engelbrecht, who has created digital experiences for children鈥檚 media brands such as Sesame Street, PBS Kids and Highlights for Children and considers herself an AI educator and creator.

Engelbrecht is also when it comes to child-targeted AI slop. She has found countless examples of AI-generated videos that could cause real physical harm.

鈥淭he more content I find,鈥� she said, 鈥渢he more horrified I get.鈥�

They include videos of a being chased by a T-Rex; a crawling biting into an apple that appears bloody, swallowing whole grapes (a major) and eating honey (which carries the potentially fatal risk of ); and a eating raw elderberries (which are toxic when uncooked).

But there鈥檚 another category of AI slop in kids鈥� media, she said, with consequences that are more difficult to capture. These videos claim to pertain to learning and development, focusing on topics like literacy and numeracy, but due to the speed with which they are produced and the lack of quality checks, they end up introducing or enforcing the wrong lessons. And sometimes, the errors don鈥檛 come until midway through the content. That means if a parent previews the first few seconds of a video, they may miss the unreliable information that appears later in the clip.

A about vowels includes visuals of consonants. It also depicts letters on screen that don鈥檛 align with the audio overlay. A promising to teach about the 50 U.S. states sings along as butchered state names appear in text at the bottom of the screen 鈥� Ribio Island, Conmecticut, Oklolodia, Louggisslia. A about the seven continents frequently shows a compass with more than four points and indecipherable symbols where the 鈥淣,鈥� 鈥淪,鈥� 鈥淓鈥� and 鈥淲鈥� should be.

These may seem like silly slips from a machine, but for a child, every 鈥渋nput鈥� is part of their learning process, Engelbrecht explained. 鈥淢ixed signals means you are delaying them learning the cause and effect of a thing,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f you learn that red is blue and blue is red, that鈥檚 a delay.鈥�

鈥淚f you鈥檙e inconsistent, it takes that much longer to learn,鈥� she added. 鈥淓very delay they have means everything else gets pushed back. That鈥檚 taking their executive function offline to go learn nonsense.鈥�

Amid all of this internet muck, the question of responsibility is a tricky one.

鈥淔undamentally, everybody has a responsibility,鈥� Engelbrecht said, including platforms like YouTube; companies that operate large-language models, like OpenAI, Google and Anthropic; the people creating and publishing these poor-quality videos intended to reach kids; and parents. 

YouTube鈥檚 current requires creators to disclose videos that have been generated by or altered with AI when that content 鈥渟eems realistic.鈥� This does not apply to cartoons and 鈥� which seems to be the majority of what鈥檚 reaching children 鈥� because it has long been assumed to be fictional content, Engelbrecht explained. 

The platform does have stricter 鈥溾�� for content targeting children than it does for its general viewership, said Boot Bullwinkle, a YouTube spokesperson, in a statement. It also has a 鈥�.鈥� (These web pages, however, do not specifically address the use of AI.)

Due to the volume of content on the platform, YouTube does not catch every video that violates its policies. (It did take action against at least seven channels on the platform in response to 社区黑料鈥檚 reporting, including terminating two.) 

鈥淭he trust that parents and families put in YouTube is a responsibility we take very seriously, and we鈥檝e invested deeply in age-appropriate environments that empower parents,鈥� Bullwinkle wrote in the statement. 鈥淵ouTube Kids, for instance, offers industry-leading parental controls and rigorous designed to provide a safer experience for families.鈥�

YouTube Kids is a distinct version of the platform with content that has been curated for children from birth to 12. Many families continue to use the main YouTube platform to view children鈥檚 content, though, which means many creators still have an audience and earning opportunities there. None of the AI-generated videos reviewed for this story were found on YouTube Kids, although recent in The New York Times found AI videos had penetrated that space as well.

Sierra Boone, executive producer of Boone Productions, a children鈥檚 media production company that makes original content for children ages 2 to 6, noted that kid-friendly competitors to YouTube, such as by Common Sense Media and , do exist. But they have struggled to break through to families. 

鈥淥vercoming that juggernaut is extremely difficult,鈥� Engelbrecht said of YouTube. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a graveyard full of failed attempts to create a safe YouTube alternative.鈥�

Boone suggested that some effective labeling would go a long way, not unlike the 鈥溾�� LinkedIn is phasing in, which aim to disclose when media has been created or edited by AI, in part or in whole. 

Engelbrecht thinks labels are a good idea, not least because they would be important for AI literacy, but she also believes they would penalize creators like her who use AI 鈥渢houghtfully鈥� in their work. (She is , among other projects, an AI tool that detects AI slop in children鈥檚 videos on YouTube.)

As for who鈥檚 behind the videos, some of it originates overseas, but plenty is home-grown, created by Americans with access to phones or computers who are just trying to 鈥渕ake a quick buck,鈥� as Boone put it. 

These people are often using AI at every step of the process 鈥� to develop themes and scripts for children鈥檚 videos, to generate the videos, and to automate the process of publishing the content regularly on 鈥�, in which the creator is anonymous and has no on-camera presence, Engelbrecht explained.

A little over a year ago, a popular content creator posted a video to YouTube in which she raves about a 鈥渉uge opportunity鈥� that would lead to 鈥渕any millionaires.鈥� The opportunity? AI-generated animated videos that inexperienced users could create with a simple prompt in just minutes. The target audience? Young children. 

That video has been viewed more than 335,000 times. 

鈥淎I in general isn鈥檛 inherently good or bad, but it exposes people鈥檚 intentions,鈥� said Boone, whose production studio is responsible for . 

The flood of AI-generated content, she added, reveals how many people have 鈥渘o regard for children or how they鈥檙e impacted,鈥� as long as it benefits them. 

For Boone, who works painstakingly with her team on every episode of The Naptime Show 鈥� researching, writing the script, editing the script, placing props, doing table reads, going to set, filming, editing the video, publishing and promoting the final product 鈥� creating children鈥檚 media is an 鈥渉onor鈥� that should be taken seriously. 

鈥淭he very foundation of creating children鈥檚 media is you are creating something that a child, in their core developmental years, is going to be consuming,鈥� Boone said. 鈥淪o what is the level of intention that you鈥檙e bringing to that? I think we need to be holding the people who are uploading this content more accountable.鈥�

Ultimately, though, in the absence of more regulation or content moderation, the burden falls on parents. 

Parents are likely putting YouTube videos in front of their children in the first place because 鈥渢hey are already so stretched,鈥� said Suskind, who still sees patients in her pediatric practice and interacts with families often. So it鈥檚 inherently challenging to ask them to more closely monitor the content that is coming through their children鈥檚 screens. 

Yet that is what must be done, Hirsh-Pasek said. Until a better solution emerges, the onus is on parents to separate the slop from 鈥渢he good stuff.鈥�

鈥淲e owe it to our kids to protect them,鈥� said Hirsh-Pasek. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what they look to parents for, to keep them in safe spaces. If we don鈥檛 deal with that or do anything about that, we鈥檝e absconded [from] our responsibility.鈥�

A new analysis from NWEA, an assessment company, suggests that these children are experiencing learning disruptions even now. 

While kindergarten achievement levels in math and reading largely held steady during and since the pandemic, by first and second grade, students are performing below pre-pandemic averages, according to an of NWEA鈥檚 Map Growth assessment data from spring 2017 to spring 2025. In math, at least, first and second graders have shown slow, incremental progress. Gaps in reading achievement, however, seem stubbornly stalled. 

The performance dips in first and second grade are similar to those seen in older grades, said Megan Kuhfeld, director of growth modeling and data analytics at NWEA, who co-led the research. 

鈥淭he general pattern of stagnation and lack of recovery in reading is very similar in first and second grade as grades three to eight,鈥� Kuhfeld said, adding that a slow recovery in math is also observed in the later grades. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very parallel across, basically, all the grades except for kindergarten.鈥�

So what鈥檚 happening to students as they matriculate from kindergarten to first grade to cause a performance drop?

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the big mystery of the results,鈥� Kuhfeld said.

She was willing to speculate about the cause, leaning on anecdotal evidence from kindergarten teachers and elementary school leaders. 

Chronic absenteeism rates in kindergarten, which are often higher than in any other grade before high school, may mean some students aren鈥檛 getting adequate instructional time, Kuhfeld offered, ultimately standing in the way of them grasping the foundational reading and math skills typically acquired in kindergarten.

And many kindergarten teachers have reported that students are showing up with more nascent social and emotional skills than their peers in prior years. They have less experience with important life skills such as sharing, cooperating and self-regulating. 

鈥淭eachers are spending more time having to teach how to behave in a kindergarten classroom 鈥� that would normally be the purview of preschool teachers,鈥� Kuhfeld said. 鈥淭his time spent on behavioral management and behavioral regulation, cumulatively, could be affecting achievement.鈥�

At Western Hills Primary School in Fort Worth, Texas, where students鈥� MAP Growth assessment results generally align with what NWEA has found nationally, principal Andrea Johnson said both factors could be at play. 

鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing kids who, if they don鈥檛 reach immediate success, we see them dysregulate,鈥� said Johnson, whose school serves students in pre-K through first grade. 鈥淭hey struggle.鈥�

At Western Hills Primary School in Texas, kindergarten and first grade performance in math and reading on NWEA鈥檚 Map Growth assessment generally mirror national trends. (Courtesy of Andrea Johnson)

She believes that may be a latent impact of the pandemic on these younger students. Many of them had extra time at home with parents and caregivers, when early care and education programs were closed. 

鈥淭hey鈥檙e used to someone being close and someone solving their problems for them,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淲e talk a lot about productive struggle. You鈥檝e gotta let them do it. Give them that mentality, where they鈥檝e gotta connect to that struggle.鈥�

She has definitely seen high rates of absenteeism among students in pre-K and kindergarten, she added. 

鈥淚 think they think, 鈥榩re-K and kinder, they don鈥檛 really matter that much,鈥欌�� Johnson said, adding that she often finds herself trying to communicate to families how crucial those years are for future learning and development.

Most measures of post-pandemic recovery have examined the impacts on students in later grades, making NWEA鈥檚 analysis a rare snapshot of students in grades K-2. 

Curriculum Associates, a curriculum and assessment provider, has also evaluated math and reading performance among students in the early grades, finding some similarities and key differences from NWEA鈥檚 results. 

NWEA鈥檚 Map Growth assessment and Curriculum Associates鈥� i-Ready Inform assessment are both widely used in U.S. schools, reaching a combined 19 million K-8 students. Both measure student achievement in math and reading, but they differ in approach.

Kristen Huff, head of measurement at Curriculum Associates, pointed out that these two assessments have distinct designs and methodologies 鈥� and that they are administered to different samples 鈥� which may account for variations in findings.

鈥淔rom the big picture, we鈥檙e seeing the same thing,鈥� Huff said. 鈥淪tudents today who were not in school 鈥� some were babies 鈥� when the pandemic hit are not performing at the same level as their pre-pandemic peers in either reading or math.鈥�

But in a published in July 2025, Curriculum Associates actually found that students in kindergarten are seeing achievement level drops in both math and reading, and that declining math performance in the early grades is 鈥渕ore drastic鈥� than in reading. 

At a high level, she said, both sets of findings send a similar message, which is that America鈥檚 children are not seeing the type of recovery needed to reach pre-pandemic achievement levels. 

鈥淚t opens up the question of what is happening,鈥� Huff said. 鈥淲e can no longer, in my opinion, say that that disrupted learning in 2020 and 2021 is the sole or primary cause of what we鈥檙e seeing. There is a larger, systemic issue 鈥� or issues 鈥� that are impacting this.鈥�

That afternoon, agents appeared in front of at least two nearby elementary schools, reportedly waiting for parents to pick up their children, 鈥渁nd at one point they were looking into kindergarten classroom windows and just scaring the living daylights out of the children,鈥� said the director, who asked not to be identified to protect the children she serves. 鈥淭hey have guns, they have rifles. They look scary.鈥�

Helicopters also flew overhead at a circling as kids paraded through the streets in their costumes, according to stories collected from Illinois Head Start families on how the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in their state last fall affected them.

Earlier on the 31st, the Illinois director said she had gotten word through phone calls and Signal channels that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers had flooded the area, she told 社区黑料. A family on their way to enroll their young daughter in an early learning center that shares space with her Head Start program was stopped a block or so away at a major intersection. The father was detained in front of his wife and child, she said.

A dozen Head Start associations representing more than 100,000 children across the country, including the one in Illinois, sent a letter to Congress Tuesday demanding that immigration agents be barred from entering Head Start, child care and pre-K classrooms and premises, including parking lots. 

For nearly three decades, that was a largely accepted practice: Immigration enforcement was prohibited in and around schools, hospitals, places of worship and other so-called sensitive locations. 

One of the first things President Donald Trump did at the start of his second term in January 2025 was . Reinstating those constraints is now one of at least meant to rein in ICE enforcement that congressional Democrats say they need in order to support long-term Department of Homeland Security funding and end the partial government shutdown that is

Their conditions were outlined in a signed by the House and Senate Democratic minority leaders, U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Chuck Schumer, and include more widely publicized rules, such as prohibiting agents from covering their faces with masks and mandating visible displays of identification. 

This week鈥檚 entreaty from the Head Start associations echoes those congressional demands. The early learning groups also urged federal lawmakers to ban DHS agents from interfering with school drop-off or pickup at their programs, including at bus stops, citing another incident in Chicago where a father was his two young kids to school. They were left in the back of the car alone.

鈥淎cross the country, children are being harmed by immigration enforcement actions,鈥� the letter reads. 鈥淗ead Start programs report that children are experiencing changes in behavior and exhibiting signs of fear and anxiety. Families are missing work, keeping their children home, and facing housing and food insecurity.鈥�

Last Thursday, Senate Democrats blocked a spending bill , extending the shutdown and demonstrating they remained firm in their demands.

That same day marked a major change in the department鈥檚 increasingly unpopular leadership, with Trump Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. The move followed questions about her handling of department spending as well as mounting criticism around her response to the deadly ICE shootings of two American citizens at protests in Minneapolis earlier this year. 

Trump announced his plan to nominate Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin as her replacement, though his new pick does not seem to signal any planned shift in enforcing the president鈥檚 mass deportation agenda. 

鈥楽afer but not safe鈥�

Policy limiting immigration enforcement near schools, hospitals and churches was formally introduced in the early days of the Clinton administration through a

In the decades since, similar policies have been modified, clarified or codified by presidents from both parties. In 2011, near the end of President Barack Obama鈥檚 first term, his administration formally expanded the policy, which was then further clarified under President Joe Biden in 2021.

Trump鈥檚 January directive marked a significant departure from these largely bipartisan, long-standing rules, including during his own first term, when DHS issued a saying they would continue to follow sensitive location protocol. 

According to a DHS the policy Trump put forth in his second term was instituted to prevent 鈥渃riminal aliens 鈥� including murders [sic] and rapists鈥� from being 鈥渁ble to hide in America鈥檚 schools and churches to avoid arrest.鈥� Some more stringent guardrails have since been reinstated for places of worship, but not for schools or early learning centers.

Providers in Illinois 鈥� and across the country 鈥� argue this scenario only serves to traumatize children and make their educational spaces less safe.

鈥淲e鈥檝e had kids that aren鈥檛 coming anymore because they鈥檙e too afraid to come to school,鈥� said Kelly Neidel, the executive director of a different Head Start agency in Illinois, which also provides wraparound services to families. 鈥淥ur food pantry [has] declined. So these people are making a choice 鈥� to eat or potentially get picked up.鈥�

In April 2025, a number of organizations filed a lawsuit in Oregon, challenging Trump鈥檚 new edict and in September, they were joined by , including staff and parents from a preschool.

In February, the country’s two largest teachers unions filed an , citing an incident in Oregon in which agents smashed in the car window of a father dropping his child off at a day care, as well as students and teachers at Minneapolis鈥檚 Roosevelt High School being assaulted with tear gas in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of Renee Good.

While advocates and providers are hopeful that a forthcoming DHS bill will include a reinstatement of sensitive location protections, some argue it wouldn鈥檛 go far enough. 

The Illinois Head Start director, who went out patrolling on Halloween to protect families and kids, said now that she鈥檚 seen what federal immigration agents are capable of, it would make her feel 鈥渟afer but not safe.鈥�

鈥淚t might deter them from coming, but would it deter all of them?鈥� she asked. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know. I honestly cannot answer that question. I cannot answer confidently that they would not enter even if that order was in place.鈥�

Wendy Cervantes, a director at The Center for Law and Social Policy, is helping to lead the charge on federal legislation, which would codify sensitive location policies into law, significantly strengthening their power.

, introduced in the House in February 2025, would prohibit immigration enforcement actions within 1,000 feet of such places, except in certain extreme circumstances. If an officer violated these rules, any resulting information wouldn鈥檛 be admissible in court and the targeted person could move to terminate any resulting removal proceedings. 

Since early January, the bill has gained 33 co-sponsors in the House and four in the Senate, meaning over two-thirds of the Democratic caucus is officially in support. It has also been endorsed by over across the country. No Republicans have signed on.听

Some states, including Illinois, have passed their own bills over the past year, but because they have to align with federal policy, they鈥檙e largely aimed at providing guidance and setting protocols for how local entities should address ICE. 

鈥淚t would make a huge difference to have this done at the federal level,鈥� Cervantes said.

鈥楢 horrendous day鈥�

The Illinois director of programs, who funds centers across a metropolitan area in the state, said that from day one of the second Trump administration she felt a significant shift in the federal approach to early childhood learning. In addition to increased ICE enforcement, her Head Start classrooms 鈥� along with thousands of others across the nation 鈥� experienced delays in funding that threatened to shutter them. 

Once their grant came through, she and her colleagues had to wade through the realities of operating under the administration鈥檚 diversity, equity and inclusion ban, which threatened the core of their work, she said.

Things escalated in September after a father of two, was shot and killed during a highly publicized ICE traffic stop in nearby Franklin Park, Illinois. He had just dropped off one of his children at a Head Start classroom.

鈥淲e knew they would eventually be coming our way,鈥� she said, and early learning centers across the region began to prepare. 

That reality hit the morning of Oct. 31 鈥� 鈥渁 horrendous day鈥� she said, which filled her with fear and made her cry tears of anger. 

And the fear has not subsided, she said, for the families she serves, the staff she employs or for herself. As the child of immigrants and a woman of color, she鈥檚 started carrying her passport.

Mirroring steps taken by other early childhood providers in Illinois, images of fake and real warrants have now been posted at the front doors of her centers so staff can differentiate, along with a script of what to say should an ICE agent approach. Head Start Parent Council meetings have moved to Zoom so parents who fear leaving their homes can still remain involved, and centers have organized food drop-offs. 

Programs have installed incident commanders and some have hired security details. Others have their own staff standing guard, but directors fear for their safety too, since many are immigrants themselves.

In November, ICE agents chased one day care worker into the center where she worked in Chicago鈥檚 North Side neighborhood. She was in front of children, and subsequently arrested. She was a week later after a federal judge ruled her arrest was illegal because she wasn’t given a preliminary bond hearing.

Volunteer rapid response teams have formed across Illinois to alert providers of nearby ICE activity. In one incident, they were called to stand guard during a field trip to a children鈥檚 museum where ICE was 鈥渉ot and heavy,鈥� according to Lauri Morrison-Frichtl, the executive director of the Illinois Head Start Association, which advocates for all state providers.

鈥淟ast fall was terrible,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 cried every day.鈥� 

鈥淥ur ask is keep ICE out of Head Start [and] early Head Start classrooms, facilities, our playgrounds, our parking lots and not interfere in our work or our day-to-day,鈥� she added. 鈥淔amilies need safe spaces to send children 鈥� making our facilities safe when ICE is surrounding them is really hard.鈥�

McNally, a Democratic state representative who lives in west Youngstown, Ohio, relies on her neighbors 鈥� who include nurses, police officers and public utility workers 鈥� as her North Star for how families are doing. These are people, she describes as having 鈥渏ob titles where they should be able to sustain a family and a household, but aren鈥檛 even coming close.鈥� She hears how they are struggling to pay bills, how they can鈥檛 afford back-to-school supplies for their kids, or how long they will wait to turn the air conditioners on at their houses in the summer. 

that  most families spent their expanded 2021 child tax credit for everyday necessities: groceries, utilities, housing and clothing 鈥� the very same things she, her husband and neighbors were doing. The extra payment, between $3,000 and $3,600 annually per child 鈥� or a monthly check between $250 and $300 鈥� brought the child poverty rate to a record low of 5.2%, . also shows that the funds dramatically improved overall well-being for families, many of whom were able to use the money to pay down bills or give a bit of breathing room to their finances. supports its bipartisan appeal. 

After the federal tax credit expired at the end of 2021, McNally introduced the in 2023, a measure she has since re-introduced in each session of the Ohio General Assembly since. A version of her proposal even made it into , before being overridden by the Republican鈥檚 veto-proof majority in the statehouse. 

McNally wasn鈥檛 the only lawmaker to view the child tax credit as a vehicle for families with young children to improve outcomes 鈥� and Ohio wasn鈥檛 the only state to take that approach. Altogether, 22 states and D.C. have created , though only child tax credits will be active in 2026. 

鈥淪tates were curious about how to fill the gaps left behind,鈥� said Ryan Vinh, a research analyst at the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University, who has studied the impact of the child tax credit.

by the Columbia center found that the state-level child tax credits helped mitigate the loss of the expanded federal credit. And the center鈥檚 forthcoming research, Vinh said, shows that the states that have expanded their child tax credits are seeing similar effects with bringing people out of poverty, but not to the extent the federal government鈥檚 impact was, largely because states are not able to offer the full amount of $3,000 to $3,600 per child. 

In July 2025, the federal , from $2,000 to $2,200 per child, although the new version limited the ability to receive a refund and created new eligibility criteria so that some families who were previously able to access the credit no longer could. Refundability is particularly crucial for the families in poverty, as it requires a family to make enough income to have a sufficiently high tax burden, rather than being able to access the funding outright. 

The ability to zero-in on child poverty is incredibly effective for state lawmakers who see this as an issue to address, and it鈥檚 drawing the attention of other states who are seeing the impact.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a domino effect,鈥� said Neva Butkus, a senior analyst who leads the state child tax credit work for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. States and localities seeking to add or expand a child tax credit work with her team to come up with what they want to solve for 鈥� in some cases it may be reducing the number of families in poverty, or it might be creating a smaller tax credit that more families can access, improving overall affordability. 

Butkus observed that there are clusters of states that tend to follow one another, such as those based on geography, and that conversations surrounding the child tax credit (CTC) among state lawmakers transcend political affiliation. She points to the CTC that McNally and DeWine pushed for and one that as examples of forward momentum in red and purple states. 鈥淲e are seeing it become more commonplace, and lawmakers across the aisle are seeing the value in the credits, as affordability becomes more of a focus.鈥�

The CTC is 鈥渂oth an affordability and anti-poverty mechanism,鈥� Butkus said. 鈥淟awmakers understand the rising costs associated with raising children. With recent years, lawmakers and advocacy groups come to us with poverty alleviation really as a focus,鈥� she said. But addressing refundability tends to be one of the differences along party lines, she noted, as some legislators view fully refundable tax credits to be an anti-work incentive.

Vinh points out that there is not strong evidence that the fully refundable child tax credit negatively impacted workforce participation, and on the 2021 expanded tax credit found a 鈥渕uted鈥� impact on employment.

But there are limits to what states can do to address poverty. They are required to balance their budgets and cannot run a deficit 鈥� unlike the federal government 鈥� and cannot do deficit financing. 鈥淲ith the upcoming changes to Medicaid and SNAP, states have to take on additional cost sharing,鈥� Vinh said. 鈥淭o the extent that states have to find money in their budget, these kinds of gaps at the federal level create some concern about being able to fund more ambitious tax credit policies.鈥� 

States that do opt for a generous child tax credit may see its impact relatively quickly. Butkus cites Minnesota as an example, explaining that in 2023, the state legislature used a budget surplus to听 implement a child tax credit of $1,750 per child; in 2024 this was offered as an , a similar model to the checks in the mail that families received in 2021. from the Columbia center cite that this change will cut child poverty by one-third.

In neighboring Iowa, though, the legislature opted for a described as 鈥渁 total windfall to the state鈥檚 of households.鈥�

Ohio, too, opted to go in a different direction, despite having a Republican governor who championed the proposed child tax credit. In 2025, the child tax credit was nixed, but the state for the Cleveland Browns to build a new stadium. The state also switched to a , which, like Iowa鈥檚 changes, lowered taxes for the wealthiest residents..

McNally plans to keep pushing for the expanded child tax credit in Ohio, though she is aware that the outcome of the 2026 governor election will likely foretell whether she can gain momentum. Part of what she wants to do is continue selling it to families, who tend to tune out conversations about taxes. 

鈥淭axes are complicated, dry and dull,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut when I say 鈥榬emember when you got the check in the mail, once a month from the federal government? You want to do that again?鈥� They said 鈥榦h that is awesome.鈥� They just want to get that money in the mail so they can buy groceries. They don鈥檛 care what is happening behind the scenes to get that.鈥�

In fiscal year 2025, 1.59% of all federal spending was dedicated to supporting children from birth to age 3, down about 20% from its peak of 1.98% in 2021, when adjusted for inflation. 

That鈥檚 according to , an annual report from First Focus on Children, a nonprofit, bipartisan advocacy organization that seeks to elevate children and families in federal policy and budget decisions. 

For the 2025 edition, the authors tracked nearly 150 federal programs that invest in infants and toddlers, including mandatory programs such as Medicaid and SNAP and discretionary programs such as the Child Care and Development Fund, Head Start and Preschool Development Grants. Their findings, they said, confirm that the U.S. can and should be doing a lot better when it comes to babies.

And with major funding cuts to Medicaid and SNAP looming 鈥� programs which help to meet the basic needs of America鈥檚 youngest population and make up about half of all federal spending on babies 鈥� the next few years are only expected to be worse. 

鈥淎ll the research shows this is the best investment you can possibly make for any age group, and yet we shortchange it,鈥� said Bruce Lesley, president of First Focus and one of the report鈥檚 authors. 鈥淲e make far fewer investments for kids 鈥� but particularly babies and toddlers 鈥� than we actually should be making.鈥�

Is there a magic number of dollars to invest in young children? In an interview, Lesley and his co-authors said no. But they did note that while the world鈥檚 largest economy spends $1.59 out of every $100 on babies, it spends about $13 on defense.

Lesley also pointed out that children from birth to age 3 make up about of the U.S. population, meaning federal spending on them is not even half of their population share. And some would argue that infants and toddlers, being an especially vulnerable, wholly dependent group, warrant more than their fair share of spending. 

鈥淢any things about human infants and toddlers are expensive,鈥� said Elizabeth Gaines, founder and CEO of Children鈥檚 Funding Project, a nonprofit that works with states, communities and Native nations to support and expand funding for children. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e vulnerable creatures. We should be spending more of our resources on the most vulnerable of us.鈥�

Many countries have better infrastructure for supporting children and families than the U.S. does, said Melissa Boteach, chief policy officer at Zero to Three, a national nonprofit advocating for infants and toddlers. Most have paid family and medical leave and universal health care systems, which the United States does not provide. That leaves many populations, including the youngest, to fend for themselves. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 paltry,鈥� Boteach said of federal investment. 鈥淏abies are 100% of the future. They鈥檙e in a period where their brain development is so rapid, the investments have such a long-term impact, and yet we continue to underinvest in babies.鈥�

While overall spending on babies is down about 20% over the past four years, discretionary spending has fared even worse. Since 2021, investment in programs that support child care, early learning, environmental safety and health for babies has declined by more than half 鈥� from 2.05% in 2021 to 0.96% in 2025. 

Many of these programs received historic levels of funding in 2021 as part of the , in response to the pandemic, making it an outlier year, acknowledged Chris Becker, vice president of budget policy and data analysis at First Focus and an author of the report. As a result of all that spending, he said, the child poverty rate in the U.S. was , lifting nearly 3 million children out of poverty and illustrating what could be possible if the nation invested more in its youngest citizens. 

鈥淐hild poverty exists. Food insecurity exists for babies. Homelessness exists for babies,鈥� Becker said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what number solves that, but it is solvable.鈥�

H.R. 1, also referred to as the 鈥淥ne Big Beautiful Bill Act,鈥� which was signed into law by President Donald Trump in July 2025, may only increase the child poverty rate in the country, the authors of the Babies in the Budget report said. The legislation includes an estimated $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, which will gut the largest sources of federal spending on children from birth to 3. It will then be up to individual states to decide whether to make up the cost difference in those programs or let benefits lapse.

Trump has cast himself as a 鈥溾�� president, promoting rhetoric about boosting birth rates and supporting parents 鈥� a message by Vice President JD Vance and other allies. But the legislation tells a different story: Federal investment in babies and toddlers remains limited, and the largest funding streams for young children face steep cuts.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 even like to think about what is going to come from SNAP and Medicaid cuts,鈥� said Gaines of Children鈥檚 Funding Project. 鈥淜ids in states that step up may end up being OK. Kids from states that largely voted this administration into office may not be OK.鈥�

The president鈥檚 鈥� though not in any way binding and merely used as a blueprint so Congress can see what the administration wants to prioritize 鈥� included program and funding cuts across the board, said Becker of First Focus. But 鈥渂abies are hit especially hard,鈥� he said, with proposed elimination of dozens of programs serving babies and a reduction of more than $2.5 billion in discretionary spending.

There is a dichotomy between the administration鈥檚 words and actions on children and families, added Boteach. 

鈥淏udgets are moral documents,鈥� she said. 鈥淪how me your budget, and I鈥檒l tell you what your priorities are. You can say your priorities are whatever you want, but the words are empty if they鈥檙e not reflected back in a document that actually puts resources into what you say your priorities are.鈥�

Some leaders in the Trump administration have argued these programs for children are too costly, but Gaines doesn鈥檛 accept that as an answer.

鈥淭he resources are there. This is a nation of abundance,鈥� said Gaines. 鈥淲hen people say the money is not there 鈥� it clearly is. Choices are being made about where we invest our dollars publicly.鈥�

To illustrate her point, she noted that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act included a expansion of immigrant detention facilities. In 2021, the federal government spent on child care relief, and it was transformative for the field, she said. 

鈥淚 think if we asked the public whether they want their money on ICE detention centers or child care centers,鈥� Gaines added, 鈥渢hey鈥檇 say child care centers.鈥�

A third of American workers now have access to some form of government-issued paid leave 鈥� the biggest share ever. 

The United States is one of only a handful of countries that doesn鈥檛 have a federal paid leave policy offering workers paid time off after the birth of a child or to seek medical care, for example, and access to unpaid leave is only about . In that dearth of federal action, states have moved ahead to pass since 2002, which now cover a third of the population. Ten of those were passed in the past decade, as support for paid leave ; three go into effect this year.

Some states鈥� paid family and medical leave programs expand beyond time off to care for a new baby or to get medical treatment. Last year, Colorado expanded its paid leave program to include an for parents of babies in the neonatal intensive care unit. In Oregon, also qualify for paid leave. Connecticut offers paid leave if you鈥檙e serving as an .

According to research from the National Partnership for Women & Families, a nonprofit advocacy group, the 14 laws now cover 32 percent of private-sector workers, an estimated 46 million people. Of those covered, a third are women, a third are men and another third are parents. Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders have especially benefited 鈥� 55 percent have paid leave through their state programs, as do 41 percent of Latinx workers due to a concentration of these communities in states that have enacted programs. 

Paid leave laws are in 13 blue states and the District of Columbia: California, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New York, Washington, Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, Oregon, Colorado, Maryland, Delaware and Minnesota.

Though other workers may receive paid leave from their employers, workers of color 鈥� and especially women of color 鈥� are less likely to be in jobs that offer any paid leave. That鈥檚 one of the reasons advocates have pointed to a state or federal system as an equalizer that could improve access. 

鈥淎ll workers will at some point need paid leave, whether for their own health or to care for loved ones. But when access is not guaranteed, the workers least likely to have paid leave also tend to be those who are likely to face greater health and caregiving challenges and have fewer financial resources to fall back on,鈥� the National Partnership for Women & Families noted in its report. 

Low-wage workers, , have to paid family and medical leave from their employers than do high-wage workers.

鈥淭his creates a double bind for low-wage workers who often can鈥檛 take off unpaid time because they lack savings or might lose their job if they do. This inequity especially impacts women who are more likely to be low-wage workers and at the same time do two-thirds of unpaid caregiving,鈥� said Katherine Gallagher Robbins, a senior fellow at the National Partnership for Women & Families and one of the authors of the report. 

Large paid leave campaigns in six more states 鈥� Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Virginia 鈥� could, if passed, bring the share of American workers covered to 44 percent, the national partnership estimated.

The most imminent of those is a proposal in Virginia. Last month, lawmakers in the Virginia House and Senate that are likely to be signed by Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who called for passing a state program in her State of the Commonwealth speech this year. 

In Pennsylvania, lawmakers are hoping to reignite momentum behind a paid leave bill that has support. Lawmakers in and are also considering a bill this session. And both Nevada and New Mexico have come close: In Nevada, a paid leave bill passed in the legislature last year was by Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo and in New Mexico, a paid leave bill passed the House last year .

At the federal level, part of the momentum of the past decade has come from men 鈥� 鈥� pushing for more paid leave access. During the Biden administration, the United States got to passing a federal paid leave policy before it was removed from a spending bill. Now during the Trump administration, lawmakers made permanent a who voluntarily offer paid leave to certain employees. 

So while the issue does have bipartisan support, Republicans and Democrats remain at odds about what form a federal paid leave policy should take. At a , U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, a Pennsylvania Republican who has a newborn, said his wife is able to care for their daughter because of her company鈥檚 paid leave policy. 

鈥淲e know that this practice makes an important difference for many in our community. Unfortunately, paid family leave has been out of reach for millions of Americans who are hoping to grow their families,鈥� he said. 

But while state bills are 鈥渆ncouraging,鈥� Mackenzie said it is also 鈥渄ifficult for state administrators and private-sector benefits managers to navigate the patchwork of paid leave policies across different states. While one program may work in Maryland, Alabama likely has its own workforce challenges to manage. One state鈥檚 approach should not be forced upon another鈥檚 workforce, or vice versa.鈥� 

For paid leave, he said, 鈥渢here is no silver bullet solution.鈥� 

Dawn Huckelbridge, the director of Paid Leave for All, a national advocacy organization pushing for federal paid family and medical leave, said she is 鈥渉eartened to see there is bipartisan interest and dialogue鈥� on the subject. 

But, she added, 鈥渢here are states that will likely never pass paid leave, so as long as there isn’t a federal guarantee, this is going to create a system and have and have nots that will just continue to grow inequities.鈥�

was originally reported by Chabeli Carrazana of . .

Over the past six years, my own children and many young people in Maine have experienced  violence, terror and educational disruption. From the COVID pandemic and its aftermath, to the lockdowns after the Lewiston mass shooting and the regular practice of active shooter drills, many in our community are living on edge. 

Some lockdown drills required the entire kindergarten class to crowd together in the bathroom in their classroom and remain still and silent. Five year olds were trained not to respond to a knock on the door, and to only come out when they heard an announcement over the public address system. My son called it “Kansas Clover,” which we later learned meant “campus closure.”

Our children and families are already worried about school safety. In the past few months, Immigration Customs and Enforcement agents have made things so much worse. 

In September, immigration officers in a Portland 鈥檚 driveway arrested a parent who had just dropped off his child. This sent shock waves throughout the community. It solidified that we in child care needed to raise our voices to protect children and families. We also realized we needed to provide support for child care providers, educators, hospital and health care workers, and people who work for public institutions. Their physical and emotional safety is at risk. 

Further underscored this need, creating widespread fear in our communities. Local schools saw in January because of these concerns.

This fear works its way to impact even the youngest in the community. In my own classroom, we have noticed an increase in stress behaviors during the enhanced ICE occupation, as well as in the days and weeks following the murders of Alex Pretti and Renee Good amid the ICE crackdown in Minneapolis. Students who do not normally act out have been yelling, crying and throwing tantrums noticeably more.

From church members to family members to families in our child care center, people are noticing a difference. Parents are making emergency communications plans in case ICE creates a disruption that leaves them unable to pick up their child. Schools and students have noticed their classmates stop showing up to school, and do not know where they are.

All children deserve affordable, accessible, high quality education in physically and emotionally safe environments. This cannot happen when officials are deputized to enter sacred spaces, profile, detain or arrest parents, caregivers and young people. Learning and fear cannot coexist. 

This isn鈥檛 surprising.

For decades, federal administrations led by Republicans and Democrats prohibited immigration enforcement at sensitive locations such as schools and hospitals. Policies were built on the premise that everyone should be able to access services supporting life and wellbeing without fear. It was common sense that children needed safe spaces where fear would not find them.

Unfortunately, one of the first actions of the current administration was to reverse these policies. They sought to rationalize their actions by pushing harmful and false narratives linking immigrants with criminality. But no one benefits when one group of people is maligned, targeted and pushed to the margins of society. It only hurts the people in our communities.

We need action at every level to respond to these threats and protect our children. Our elected officials can lead through legislation, such as in Maine which would prohibit ICE from entering public schools, child care centers, libraries and hospitals without a valid judicial warrant signed by a judge. 

Local mutual aid groups are working overtime to make sure that affected communities are able to get food, medicine and baby products delivered when the threat of racial profiling by ICE is too great to leave home, regardless of citizenship status. Members of my own community are getting notarized to help create formal arrangements for children in case anything happens to their parents. This kind of action must continue and expand to protect children from future harm.

There’s a lot that we parents can’t control in the world to keep our children safe. However, we have an opportunity to speak up against ICE terrorizing our schools, child care centers and medical facilities. We should act swiftly to do so. Whether you are an educator, a lawmaker or a parent who cares about your community, speak out against ICE. All of us can contribute to the safety and future of our children and our communities.

Decades of research in developmental psychology and neuroscience reveal that early stress, particularly in the first few years of life, can influence brain development, behavior and well-being. 

Megan Gunnar has dedicated her career to understanding the relationship between stress biology and neurobehavioral development in children. As a professor at the University of Minnesota鈥檚 and director of the 鈥� which studies how children and adolescents regulate stress and emotions 鈥� she has influenced and mentored generations of researchers. 

After earning her doctorate in developmental psychology from Stanford University in 1978, Gunnar completed postdoctoral training in psychoneuroendocrinology at Stanford Medical School before joining the faculty at the University of Minnesota in 1979. Over the years, she鈥檚 authored studies, including research on the intersection of , and has been a leader in for parents and caregivers. 

鈥淢egan Gunnar is a force of nature,鈥� says Ellen Galinsky, president and co-founder of Families and Work Institute and author of The Breakthrough Years and Mind in the Making. 鈥淲ith a rare background in psychology and developmental psychoneuroendocrinology, she has broken new ground in research on the effects of stress on infants, children and adolescents. She is a gifted communicator, known for phrases that make her findings unforgettable, and a true field-builder.鈥�

As Gunnar prepares to retire at the end of this academic year, she reflects on what decades of research suggest about how early stress shapes the developing brain. In the conversation below, she discusses how her field has advanced, the challenges of modern stressors on children and families, and what parents and caregivers can draw from her field to support infants and young children today. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Why are the earlier years so important for brain development? 

The brain is in the process of getting itself organized during those years. When you add to the development of the brain, it’s on top of the brain that’s already been developed. There are such things as sensitive periods when things get established and then get solidified. 鈥� Nature decided to have these sensitive periods.

What can change during these periods?

Things like executive functions, being able to learn to have inhibitory control. These begin to be established early, but we can work on them. You can work on self-regulation throughout your life. It’s harder later than it is earlier, but it never completely closes off. 

How can adults recognize stress in children?

Parents are not going to run around taking measures of cortisol. Signs that a child needs help are often that they start misbehaving. The canary in the coal mine is misbehavior.

Any parent knows this. A kid is going along fine. They start acting [out] all of a sudden. What’s going on? Bad kids? No, they鈥檙e probably hungry. Or maybe something else is going on that鈥檚 troubling them, especially if it lasts longer. It might be that they’ve had problems with friends at school. They might be worried about something. When they get more clingy or more crabby than usual, that’s a sort of sign that they’re a little stressed and they need some support of some kind.

What鈥檚 the best way to respond?

One of the things that we do so frequently with kids is say, “Don’t do this,” but then we don’t tell them what we want them to do. Any good preschool teacher will tell them what they’re supposed to do. They don’t say, “Stop making loud noise.” They say, “Use your indoor voice.” One of the misconceptions that we have is that kids know how they’re supposed to behave. And if we want to change the behavior, it鈥檚 often easier and better to tell them how we want them to behave.

When a child is feeling stressed and upset, asking what’s wrong can be sort of tough because sometimes they don’t really know what’s wrong. But [saying] 鈥淐ome, let’s sit together and let’s breathe together,鈥� and modeling the behavior of calming down and getting them calmer before you try to probe to figure out what’s going on is a wise thing.

There’s a lot of parenting advice on the internet, especially on Instagram. Where can parents and educators of young children turn for quality information?

Zero to Three鈥檚 is wonderful. If you’re an educator or a parent who likes to read complicated things, then the puts out working papers that go in more depth. [Gunnar is a founding member.] 

I wouldn’t look at any influencer. I just would go to Zero to Three or the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development if it’s more of a health question, and the if it’s more of a mental health question, absolutely not to the influencers. They’re just there to catch your attention.

You were a pioneer in treating child psychology as a science related to other sciences. Can you unpack the term 鈥渂iobehavioral鈥�? Do you think of it as an approach or as a field of study?

Psychology used to be about behavior and how we think 鈥� how we conceptualize and talk about thinking, right? But not about the body that all that was happening in. We’re not a disembodied brain. That’s been the biggest change since I got in the field 50 years ago. 

Now you hear the term 鈥減sychological science,鈥� and that is the shift 鈥� to move from just looking at behavior to looking at the processes and the mechanisms underlying behavior, including how the brain acts and so on. It’s also other endocrine systems, immune functioning, how all of that plays together to influence the way people behave.

So it’s everywhere. And you either talk about it as 鈥減sychobiology鈥� or 鈥渂iobehavioral,鈥� putting words together, but it’s a whole system.

Given your work as an educator, professor and mentor, are there promising avenues or researchers on the horizon?

I think many of us feel now that we鈥檝e filled in enough of the pieces of the mechanisms for how things happen, not that we see the association, but we understand the mechanisms 鈥� and we can continue to do that, but it’s really time to stop admiring the problem and to move upstream and try to change the conditions that are leading to the problem. 鈥� I think around the globe, that is the movement 鈥� to understand how to link the work we do to the policy, and show that certain policies are providing for better health outcomes through mechanisms that we now understand. 

I think there are some really amazing people out there that are doing some really phenomenal work. Many of them are actually my former students, but there are others as well. 鈥� The work is getting more interdisciplinary. The lines between disciplines are just fading, which is really lovely. And I tell students: You don’t want to be a dilettante. You don’t want to know a little bit about a lot of things and not much about anything. You need to be somebody who is an expert in X so that you can be at the table, but you really do need to broaden your scope and be able to work with people from different disciplines. 

If what we’re going to do is not only understand what the problem is, but what are the mechanisms for it, and how do we link that to policy, you’re going to need to be able to talk to economists who want to know the return on investment.

Can you say more about the consequences of not investing enough in early education and early educators? 

I really feel for those educators. They’re not paid enough. And we expect so much of them. And the ones who are laying down the fundamentals are paid the least, and they are often the least trained and the least supported. We just have to get to the point where we recognize that the best investment 鈥� as we’ve been saying for years, as the economists have helped us say 鈥� is in high-quality education available to all children from birth.

How has the science in your field advanced? 

The science has advanced in that we understand more and more about what’s happening inside a kid, biologically and in the brain. But the basic understanding of what children need in order to feel safe and secure, we’ve known for a long time. Now we understand a lot more about the how and the why of it.

The capacity to look at the physiology and how the brain responds has been just unbelievably exciting and illuminating. It has certainly helped us understand the importance of the earliest years in terms of the programming of the biology of stress.

What do you recommend for parents in this moment? 

Are we talking about normal life stress, or are we talking about buffering the children who are living in the areas where ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is swarming and whistles are blowing and people are being dragged from their cars? Those are two related but somewhat distinct issues. 

Given that you鈥檙e living and working in Minnesota, I鈥檓 curious what your thoughts are on the latter.

I am envisioning what it would be like for a child 10 and under, or maybe 7 and under, living in those houses in the Longfellow neighborhood, where periodically, there are . There are men terrifyingly dressed, marching with guns in your street. 

I think the best thing [a parent can] do right now is to spend their evening watching old [episodes of] Mister Rogers鈥� Neighborhood because he was amazing at listening to children talk about their fears without adding to them. If you remember, one of the things he said, about when terrible things happen, is to look for the helpers. If I were a parent with a small child living in those neighborhoods, I would help my child reframe the whistleblowers as helpers coming, rather than emphasizing the scary guys. 

The other thing that I think is really important for parents to remember is that when a child asks a question, and we hear that question with our adult mind, like, “What are those bad people doing?” 鈥� the next step always with a young child is, “Well, what are you thinking might be happening?” So that you come in with your answer where they’re at, rather than this big thing that may be way beyond what they were thinking. 

Disclosure: Ellen Galinsky was Chief Science Officer of the Bezos Family Foundation from 2016-2022. The Bezos Family Foundation provided financial support to Early Learning Nation.

In 2021, Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers set out a plan to create the largest universal preschool program in the country for 4-year-olds, through a massive ramp-up of an elementary grade known as transitional kindergarten, or TK.

At a , Newsom  鈥渁 commitment that all 4-year-olds will get high quality instructional education,鈥� and said that the investment could close learning gaps. 鈥淧eople aren鈥檛 left behind, as often as they start behind,鈥� he added.

The state set a deadline that every district offer transitional kindergarten to all eligible 4-year-olds by fall 2025, and in the intervening years, schools have enrolled more than 175,000 children in TK. They鈥檝e also had  and  so that kids have enough space and quick access to .

LAist spoke to more than a half dozen early childhood researchers who say a key piece has been missing in the state鈥檚 implementation: California itself hasn鈥檛 evaluated the program as it’s expanded, nor does it have plans to going forward. This, despite studies showing how critical the early years are for a child鈥檚 learning, and research from another state鈥檚 public preschool program that found students tested lower on state assessments and had more behavioral problems compared to those who weren鈥檛 in that program..

鈥溾�奍t is a huge mistake to not evaluate the implementation of TK and whether or not the classrooms are providing developmentally appropriate practice,鈥� said Jade Jenkins, associate professor of education at the University of California, Irvine.

The criticism comes as California has invested , and is paying about  to administer the new grade level.

鈥溾�奧e need to know whether this investment is actually lifting kids. We know it’s a huge economic windfall for parents, and that’s a great boost for families. But is it lifting kids without government research?鈥� said Bruce Fuller, a professor emeritus of education and public policy at UC Berkeley.

A spokesperson for the California Department of Education said money for research has not been allocated in the state budget, and the department would 鈥渨elcome a legislative appropriation鈥� to 鈥渟tudy the impacts of TK on students and families.鈥�

鈥淎t this time, the Legislature and Governor have not appropriated funding for the CDE to conduct evaluations,鈥� the agency said.

It鈥檚 not the first time the agency has brought up the need for a study 鈥� especially as the program was rolling out statewide. A state official told LAist in 2022 , but they opted not to suggest how it should be funded.

鈥淵ou could launch a very high quality study at a tiny, tiny, tiny percentage of the total funding for that program, and that would help people figure out what we are actually offering our families and how to improve it 鈥� and that seems really important,鈥� said Alix Gallagher, 鈥奷irector of听听for the research organization Policy Analysis for California Education. 鈥淎s a taxpayer, I don’t find it acceptable that billions of dollars are being spent with no attention to how our systems can learn to use that in ways that are most beneficial for kids.”

TK experiences can look different school to school

The state sets , which can have a max of 24 kids and need a 10:1 student to adult ratio. Teachers must be credentialed with early childhood educational experience or units. And while the state  should learn in TK, it has 鈥� meaning  to more academic.

Lyse Messmer, a parent of a TK child in northeast L.A., has seen even variation between two schools her son has attended in the same area. His first program relied more on screen time and worksheets; Messmer transferred him to another program with more outdoor play. And the teacher at the former school had not previously taught TK, she said, which made for a harder transition into school.

But she said the overall experience has been beneficial for her child, and a welcome financial relief. 鈥淚 think the benefits of him getting used to a bigger classroom and like a bigger elementary school and navigating all that stuff for him has been really positive,鈥� she said.

Adding a new grade is a massive endeavor for districts. As in Messmer鈥檚 case, it can be especially hard to find teachers with experience teaching kids this age, said Austin Land, a researcher at UC Berkeley鈥檚 Equity and Excellence in Early Childhood.

鈥溾�奩ou can’t require that every kid that wants a TK spot gets a TK spot and then also require this workforce to exist that has all this preexisting training,鈥� Land said.

Land, who has been studying TK before the expansion, said he would like to know basic characteristics of TK classrooms today.

鈥淒o you have a sixth grade teacher that got reassigned leading your classroom or is it somebody who’s been working with little kids for a while?鈥� Land said. 鈥溾�奍s the teacher having a one-on-one interaction with a child or a one-on-two interaction with some children? Or are they spending most of their time up at the front?鈥�

Lack of data on quality

Without data, it鈥檚 hard to know what children are learning, said Allison Friedman-Krauss, an associate research professor at the  at Rutgers University.

鈥淲e want to make sure we’re investing in quality for kids. And one way to know that we’re doing it is to be able to monitor it鈥� we want to make sure that the state can sort of have a pulse on what’s going on in the classroom,鈥� she said.

The institute  across the country on a number of benchmarks of quality. According to the institute鈥檚 tracking, about two-thirds of public preschool programs in the country have a classroom observation system in place, she said. California鈥檚 TK program does not.

Researchers said it鈥檚 especially important to know what these youngest students are doing because early experiences can affect their learning later on.

鈥淎t the very least, we want to make sure it’s not doing harm,鈥� Jenkins said.

Tennessee: A cautionary tale

Researchers point to  as an example of where good intentions were not enough to benefit kids. The state has similar standards to what California put in place: max class sizes, low ratios, specialized teachers.

Dale Farran, a professor emeritus at Vanderbilt University, found in her research that children who attended the pre-K program ended up faring worse academically and behaviorally than their peers who didn鈥檛 attend. Farran said standards don鈥檛 guarantee quality, much less equity between students from different social, economic and racial backgrounds.

鈥淭hose structural elements 鈥奱re the easiest things for states to make rules about, but are they having the kind of interactions in the classrooms that will be positive for children? That鈥檚 much harder to put into place,鈥� she said.

Farran has said that one possible reason for this was the overly academic nature of the program and structured settings: kids sitting at desks and listening to a teacher up front, when kids this age need to move around and play.

Katie Flynn, a mom of a TK student in Pasadena, said while she鈥檚 had an overall positive experience with her son in TK this year, it still feels more like elementary school than preschool.

At the beginning of the year, her son wouldn鈥檛 drink his water all day, or avoided going to the bathroom until he got home, because teachers didn鈥檛 remind or prompt him like they did in private preschool.

鈥溾�奍 know it’s also his responsibility, right? Like he needs to listen to his body. So it’s a mutual, collaborative enterprise, but it just shows how limited this age group is in ensuring that that happens,鈥� she said.

What can the state do?

The California Department of Education said absent funding from the state Legislature for the department to evaluate the program, it convenes a regular group of early childhood researchers in the state to share their work into TK. But researchers LAist talked to from that group said that approach can only go so far.

Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, chair of the Assembly Education Committee, said he wasn鈥檛 familiar with the Tennessee study, but funding for evaluation is something he will look into.

鈥淲e definitely need to make sure that we’re again evaluating our most effective programs so that we can focus on best practices to continue to support those statewide,鈥� he said.

When LAist asked how the state will assess the current program, Muratsuchi and a State Board of Education spokesperson pointed to one large-scale study of TK done by the , in 2017. (The governor鈥檚 office also directed LAist to the state board.)

That AIR study found that kids who went to TK when it first started in California had stronger literacy and math skills when entering kindergarten compared to similar-age peers who didn鈥檛 go to TK at the beginning of the year. (Those differences mostly faded by the end of the year).

Land, the UC Berkeley researcher, and Gallagher, of PACE, said the AIR study was done nearly a decade ago, and on a TK program that looks different from TK today.

That’s because when TK started in 2012, they said, it was intended for kids who were nearly 5 years old, but had just missed the cutoff for kindergarten. Today, kids as young as 3 are entering TK in California.

LAist also reached out to Karen Manship, principal researcher of the AIR study. She said they鈥檙e still investigating topics related to transitional kindergarten, 鈥渂ut we do not have any funding or current plans to evaluate the program overall now that it is fully rolled out.鈥�

The state education board spokesperson also cited research by economist Rucker Johnson, who looked at TK between 2013 and 2019, which found low-income children had greater reading and math gains by third grade than students who did not attend TK.

鈥淭hese points tell us that an early start has proven to be beneficial for California students,鈥� said a spokesperson for the board, which sets state policy.

LAist reached out to Johnson, who said that while his study of TK in the early years is promising, it鈥檚 鈥渘ot a sufficient condition.鈥�

鈥淔or improvements to be sustained, meaning even if they were good in the past, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t continue to be monitoring the success as they’re expanded and expanded that scale to universal,鈥� he said.

Kevin McCarty, Sacramento鈥檚 mayor and a former state assemblymember who championed the legislation to expand TK, told LAist funding is a challenge 鈥� given  鈥� but that he welcomes evaluation.

鈥淲e want to make sure that it’s effective, that it works, and if there are any issues that we need to address and improve going forward,鈥� he said. 

In the meantime, he said the program has given many parents a huge economic relief 鈥� and parents have a choice on whether to send their kids.

鈥淭his is free, this is 鈥� California paid for free universal pre-K,鈥� he added, 鈥渨hich is a big deal because, we reminded people, paying for  than sending a kid to UCLA.鈥�

This was originally published on .

At the Firefly Gardens in suburban Pittsburgh, children and caregivers can explore a sensory playground filled with wind chimes, grassy tunnels and a mud box. Their playtime doesn鈥檛 end at the park though; each activity is paired with caregiver-focused messages and QR codes that encourage at-home activities.

The Washington County Park system, WashPA Outdoors and Pittsburgh鈥檚 PBS station, WQED, created the sensory playground using a pilot grant from Let鈥檚 Play PGH!, a Pennsylvania initiative that provides funding to local organizations to create playful learning experiences for people of all ages in public spaces, and Remake Learning, a peer network for educators in Pittsburgh.

The activities at the sensory playground, which is located in a community , were designed to foster intergenerational play and joint exploration, helping caregivers see play as 鈥渢he work of kids鈥� and understand how to actively support learning through shared activities, according to Gina Masciola, a program director for learning neighborhoods at WQED who sits on the Remake Learning Council.听

鈥淪o the messaging really is for adults,鈥� said Masciola. 鈥淚t’s really about modeling and helping parents connect to their kids.鈥�

launched in summer 2023, when Remake Learning brought together organizations to work on prototypes for play installations. The initiative has to distribute, and has already doled out a majority of the money to organizations that are redeveloping spaces in the region, incorporating child development research, urban design and the science of play, said Tyler Samstag, executive director of Remake Learning.

Pittsburgh isn鈥檛 the first city in the U.S., or even in Pennsylvania to create public works that foster intergenerational play and learning. Samstag pointed to a simple and effective project in Philadelphia that put playful signage up in grocery stores encouraging parents to talk to their kids. Those relatively inexpensive installations can provide a boost for children鈥檚 literacy and language development, according to Samstag. 

Let鈥檚 Play PGH! was inspired by research from Playful Learning Landscapes, a joint project from Temple University鈥檚 Infant and Child Laboratory and the Brookings Institution, Samstag noted. Researchers examined how children spend their time outside of school 鈥� which for many, they said, was about 80% of their waking hours 鈥� and . The initial Learning Landscapes found that communities must buy into the project at the outset, create simple science-based activities and build on existing city infrastructure as much as possible.

鈥淲e put up this question, 鈥榃hat would playful learning installations prioritize? What would they look like?鈥欌�� Samstag said. 鈥淲hat might it look like if a bus stop turned into a site of learning, or a laundromat turned into a site of learning?鈥�

After brainstorming, participants tested out ideas in their communities by building prototypes, placing them in public spaces where children and caregivers could interact with them, and sought feedback from residents on what could make the designs more accessible, engaging and fun. WQED, for example, collaborated closely with Pam Kilgore from WashPA Outdoors and Washington City Parks to install the sensory playground and worked closely with Kilgore, who surveyed community members visiting the garden and asked them what they would like to see, Masciola said. She added: 鈥淲hen we are building anything, we know that the community is going to end up being the user. Those are the experts.鈥�

When WQED partnered with Washington City Parks and WashPA Outdoors to create the sensory playground, Masciola said, the team used the grant to buy materials for the prototype of the playground, scouring thrift stores for supplies to create homemade wind chimes. They also created a sensory tunnel with sticks, long grasses and bark woven throughout. The PBS Kids show, Elinor Wonders Why, inspired the signs and play prompts dotting the garden. Those signs were written for caregivers, not just children, with the intention of sparking curiosity.

A lot of PBS shows, like Daniel Tiger and Carl the Collector, really are 鈥渁bout modeling and helping caregivers interact with very young children,鈥� Masciola said. 鈥淢aking sure that families understand what it means to observe, encouraging them to maybe have a data collection notebook that they can record things in together with their children.鈥�

Another grantee, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, was invited by Let鈥檚 Play PGH! to join the initial cohort to transform the Frick Environmental Center, a public facility inside Pittsburgh鈥檚 largest park. The vision was to revamp the center, which serves as a nature and education hub for the city鈥檚 dwellers, into an area that would encourage caregivers to interact with their children, rather than just watch them. 

鈥淥ne of the deeper goals of this is promoting play between caregivers and children,鈥� said James Brown, director of education at the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and the Frick Environmental Center. 鈥淭his is not the place to let your kids go loose and then you’re just on your phone.鈥�

When Brown received feedback from caregivers after the first round of play testing, he said he noticed that the adults were taking on more of an observational role while their children were playing.

Then, when Brown鈥檚 team introduced play prompts, such as a hide and seek game or a cleanup song, and posted them around the space, the feedback from caregivers changed, he said.

鈥淲e found there was much more 鈥榳e鈥� statements, like 鈥榳e did this,鈥� and 鈥榳e built the habitat,鈥� and 鈥榳e were exploring,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淛ust that invitation was the game changer.鈥�

Frick has plans to continue with a larger scale redesign with more play installations, and has been translating caregivers鈥� feedback into plans for the next phase of the environmental center, Brown said. Last summer, he contracted a narrative muralist who read through the data from parents and kids, then drafted an artistic rendering for the space. Brown expects the artists working on the project to have installations ready by this spring.

With feedback in hand from people in the community who have experienced their installations, the Pittsburgh Park Conservancy and other grantees that have projects underway with Let鈥檚 Play PGH! are continuing to iterate on their prototypes. 

As of last month, the initiative has funded 16 projects 鈥� including the sensory playground in the Firefly Gardens and the Frick Environmental Center 鈥� with prototypes in motion, and intergenerational play is key to a number of them, Samstag said. One project he highlighted, 鈥淐layground,鈥� by the Manchester Craftsman鈥檚 Guild, made a bicycle-powered potter鈥檚 wheel as a way to improve access to the art of ceramics. Guild members retrofitted an old bicycle from the 1970s with a pottery wheel and took it around to local festivals throughout the summer where parents and grandparents pedaled with their kids. With the help of a new grant, the guild plans on building a suite of bicycle installations that can travel to various public spaces around Pittsburgh, Samstag said.

Joyful learning is so important, Samstag explained, adding that when he brings people together across all types of organizations and asks adults to reflect on their own experiences of play, the question sparks vivid memories. 

鈥淓veryone knows how important this is,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut it’s often overlooked because of all of the other things that you鈥檝e got to do day in and day out.鈥�

Correction: An earlier version of this story failed to include the pivotal role WashPa Outdoors played in the creation of the Firefly Gardens鈥� sensory playground. In addition, copy edits have been made throughout the story.