by Jackie Mader, The Hechinger Report
December 24, 2025
Within the almost 13 years since I wrote my first early childhood story for The Hechinger Report, I’ve by no means skilled a 12 months fairly like 2025. From the gutting of federal early childhood places of work to threats to Head Begin and the deeply felt ramifications of aggressive federal immigration enforcement, information on the early ed beat felt fixed — and particularly pressing — this 12 months.
Amid all this, there have been some promising steps taken, particularly on the state degree, to raise kids’s points and pay for packages that help the earliest years of life. Listed below are 5 highlights, together with just a few you will have missed:
New Mexico launched common little one care. New Mexico was the first state within the nation to roll out common little one care to each household, no matter earnings. Specialists are cautiously optimistic, and acknowledge the state doubtless has some kinks to work out. One New Mexico supply I spoke to mentioned she’s particularly nervous that wealthier households will snatch up spots if guardrails aren’t put in place to prioritize sure populations, together with kids with disabilities. One other advocate informed me she is nervous that the wages for early childhood educators are nonetheless too low. It is a story that can proceed to play out over the subsequent few years, and can be watched fastidiously. Nonetheless, in a rustic that has lengthy underfunded early studying, consultants are hopeful that different states will comply with go well with and make investments extra within the little one care trade in ways in which help the kid care employees and households.
New Jersey, which leads the nation in excluding younger kids with disabilities, dedicated to research how one can enhance inclusive practices: Earlier this 12 months, a Hechinger Report investigation discovered New Jersey is the worst within the nation at ensuring younger college students with disabilities are studying alongside their friends for not less than 80 % of the day, which is a federal metric for inclusion. After our collection was revealed, a council that advises New Jersey schooling officers on particular schooling points introduced it’s going to examine inclusion charges for younger kids and take a look at how state educators and directors are educated.
States and municipalities invested in early childhood: Cincinnati, Montana and California’s Alameda County elevated their help for early studying this 12 months, mentioned Emmy Liss, a researcher and coverage advisor for the assume tank New America’s New Follow Lab. In San Antonio, the metropolis’s pre-Okay program expanded this 12 months to serve infants and toddlers. In Colorado, voters authorized new “taxing districts” that can elevate gross sales tax for early childhood packages. “We see this constant sample of mayors, would-be mayors, county officers, saying, ‘Our households cannot face up to this anymore, and we’ve got the facility and the mandate from our group to spend money on early childhood,’” Liss mentioned. “I really feel optimistic due to that.”
Some states expanded family-friendly insurance policies: After reporting by Hechinger contributor Sarah Carr this 12 months discovered few dad and mom are made conscious of their toddler’s rights to early intervention providers, Illinois handed a regulation requiring that households with infants who keep within the NICU are linked to these early therapies. In Colorado, state officers added NICU depart to the state’s paid household medical depart program. Minnesota policymakers are on the cusp of launching their state’s paid household depart program.
Pittsburgh embraced a citywide play-based initiative: After many years of analysis that reveals the significance of play for wholesome growth, a brand new initiative in Pittsburgh is placing analysis into motion. After funding a number of years of play-based tasks across the metropolis, the Let’s Play, PGH program, funded by the nonprofit Remake Studying and the Grable and Henry L. Hillman foundations, rolled out everlasting play-based experiences this 12 months. These embrace a “Clayground,” the place households can strive hands-on clay sculpting, and a “Discovery Tree,” an indoor construction with numerous play and studying options. “I believe society, particularly in schooling, we’re transferring away from valuing play in a method that it is typically spoken of extra in a pejorative sense, like there’s extra severe issues we’ve got to do,” mentioned Tyler Samstag, government director of Remake Studying. “However there’s this wealthy analysis across the significance of play,” he added. And, “there is a form of reeling again from the pandemic period of all the time being in entrance of a display screen.”
I additionally requested just a few early childhood consultants what they plan to observe for in 2026:
- I am watching the twin traits of state momentum for common little one care proposals towards the budgetary headwinds states are going through on account of financial insurance policies and H.R. 1 [the “big, beautiful bill”].
— Elliot Haspel, senior fellow at Capita
- The early care and schooling group could have the chance to stake out daring coverage positions, like these we noticed in New Mexico, New York, Connecticut, Montana and Vermont this previous 12 months, whereas going through the problem of defending kids, households and educators from federal insurance policies that can wreak havoc on security internet packages and state budgets.
— Albert Wat, deputy director of advocacy and affect on the Alliance for Early Success
- I’m being attentive to whether or not there are indicators of even a minor shift away from this dominant narrative — that one thing near common little one care is the ‘true purpose,’ which we now appear to be accepting with out query. My concern is that the wants of younger kids will as soon as once more get blotted out by the wants of grown-ups, the wants of the financial system, the wants of enterprise.
— Katharine B. Stevens, founder and president of the Heart on Youngster and Household Coverage
- Variations between the Home and Senate funding payments, which can be settled in January, which might have an effect on funding for numerous early childhood packages.
— Sarah Gilliland, senior coverage supervisor, New America’s New Follow Lab
- With New York Metropolis’s value of dwelling driving households away in droves, the time is ripe for common little one care — and it may occur! We stay up for working with Mayor-elect Mamdani and his crew as they develop plans that raise up home-based little one care as a significant help.
— Jessica Sager, CEO, All Our Kin
Thanks a lot to all of you on your help and readership this 12 months, and please don’t hesitate to achieve out with any story concepts, questions or feedback. Comfortable holidays!
This story about early childhood schooling was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, unbiased information group centered on inequality and innovation in schooling. Join the Hechinger publication.
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