High-quality early childhood education (ECE) is both the most basic kind of economic necessity for a functioning family and society — and its own special kind of magic.

I have experienced this firsthand, as a mom of three. Songs and story time teach the alphabet and foundational literacy skills that set children on the path to become skilled, joyful readers, long before they hit the critical third grade benchmark for literacy. Drawing and playing with blocks instills basic math skills like counting and shapes. Routines for circle time, sharing and playing with peers, and regularly attending class and being part of a school community instill important social-emotional skills.

At its root, available, affordable, safe and caring ECE ensures that parents can work or pursue higher education. It betters the circumstances of not only individual families, but the entire country. Insufficient childcare costs the American economy $122 billion a year.

When done well, high-quality early childhood education, particularly for three- and four-year-olds, sows the seeds of success that grow for years to come.

There is a wealth of research on the impacts of high-quality early learning, from academic gains in elementary school through to lifelong health, career, and even criminal justice outcomes. But ultimately, there just aren’t enough seats for all children: in the 2024-2025 school year, just 37% of four-year-olds and 9% of three-year-olds were enrolled in state-funded preschool programs, and growth in enrollment has slowed. Like with too many other things in education, historically, Black and Latino children have had inequitable access.

Expanding Access, Affordability, & Quality of Early Childhood Education

That’s why it’s so heartening to see places like New York City and California work to expand access to early care and education for more children. New York City will soon offer slots for two-year-olds, while California added 100,000 more three- and four-year-olds to its transitional kindergarten (TK-4) program from the 2020-21 school year to 2024-25.

The Trump administration’s changes to Head Start would eliminate its quality standards and leave decisions up to the states. They may also bar children from immigrant backgrounds from the program, even if they’re U.S. citizens.

Yet while states are stepping up to support more young learners and their families, the Trump administration has repeatedly threatened access for hundreds of thousands of students.

Head Start, the largest federal investment in early childhood education, is at risk. A proposal by the Trump administration would eliminate quality standards and leave decisions up to states, according to press accounts. Some media report that the new rules may bar children from immigrant backgrounds from the program.

Ending the program’s required teacher-to-child ratio is an obviously bad idea for anyone who has had the joyful but difficult challenge of caring for several preschoolers at once, not to mention the ensuing consequences when children get less attention. So are blocking rules facilitating the participation of students with disabilities. Barring children from the program based on their parents’ immigration status is a particular kind of cruelty, one that will inevitably bar U.S. citizen children — those who were born in this country — from the program.

The Trump administration also proposed level-funding key childcare and early learning programs — and eliminating the Preschool Development Block Grant — in its latest budget proposal, and has moved a key support for student-parents, the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program, from the Education Department to Health and Human Services.

Together, these changes will leave fewer children without a strong academic start and their families without the support they need to succeed in the workforce — a blow to our economy in the short term, without the tools that will help the next generation move forward.

If this country is to truly have a thriving economy, then this administration would be investing more in ECE, not gutting it. Equitable ECE benefits not only children and their parents, but society as a whole.