Amid a turbulent year characterized by the dismantling of federal early childhood offices and persistent threats to foundational programs, a powerful counter-movement has taken root in statehouses and city halls across the nation. While an atmosphere of uncertainty emanated from Washington, D.C., a wave of tangible progress demonstrated the resilience and innovation of local governments and communities. These entities have decisively stepped into the breach, shouldering the responsibility of bolstering early learning systems, investing in critical programs, and enacting family-friendly policies. This groundswell of local action offers not just a stopgap but a potential blueprint for the future, showcasing a firm commitment to the well-being of young children and their families even as federal support recedes. The developments of 2025 have underscored a fundamental shift, where the impetus for progress in early childhood education now clearly resides at the state and municipal levels.
A New Frontier in Universal Access
New Mexico has positioned itself as a national pioneer by launching a universal child care initiative, becoming the first state in the country to offer such a program to every family, irrespective of their income level. This ambitious undertaking is being viewed with cautious optimism by experts, who see it as a potential model for a nation that has historically underfunded the early learning sector. The initiative represents a landmark achievement, moving the conversation from targeted subsidies to a public-good framework for child care. However, its implementation is being closely watched, as its success or failure could significantly influence the trajectory of similar proposals in other states. The core challenge lies in building a system from the ground up that is not only accessible but also equitable and of high quality, a monumental task that requires navigating complex logistical and financial hurdles. Its development over the next few years will be a critical case study for policymakers nationwide.
Despite the celebration surrounding its launch, New Mexico’s initiative faces significant implementation challenges that could temper its revolutionary promise. Advocates within the state have voiced two primary concerns that could undermine its long-term success. First, without specific guardrails or priority enrollment systems, there is a legitimate fear that wealthier families might disproportionately occupy the limited available child care slots, potentially squeezing out more vulnerable populations, such as children with disabilities who often require more specialized and costly care. Second, a persistent issue plaguing the entire sector—low wages for early childhood educators—remains unaddressed in the initial rollout. This could compromise the quality of care and exacerbate workforce shortages, ultimately jeopardizing the sustainability of the program. These potential hurdles highlight the complexity of translating a bold vision into an effective and equitable reality on the ground.
Demanding Equity and Accountability
In a decisive step toward rectifying systemic inequities, New Jersey has committed to a formal investigation of its practices regarding the inclusion of young children with disabilities in mainstream educational settings. This action was prompted directly by a Hechinger Report investigation published earlier in the year, which revealed that New Jersey ranked worst in the nation on a key federal metric: the percentage of young students with disabilities who learn alongside their non-disabled peers for at least 80 percent of the school day. Following the publication of this series, a state council that advises education officials on special education issues announced it would launch a comprehensive probe. This development serves as a powerful testament to the role of investigative journalism in prompting policy change and forcing a level of accountability that internal mechanisms had failed to produce, moving a critical issue from the margins to the center of the state’s education agenda.
The investigation in New Jersey aims to go beyond simply acknowledging the state’s poor performance by delving into the root causes of its low inclusion rates. The probe is set to specifically examine how state educators and administrators are trained on inclusive practices, signaling a focus on systemic failures rather than individual shortcomings. This approach is critical for creating lasting change, as it targets the foundational knowledge and support systems that shape classroom environments. By scrutinizing training protocols and administrative policies, the state hopes to identify the barriers that have prevented the successful integration of students with disabilities. This commitment to a deep, diagnostic review underscores a more profound understanding of the problem and holds the promise of developing targeted solutions that could serve as a model for other states grappling with similar challenges in ensuring equitable educational opportunities for all children.
Local Investment and Innovative Funding
An overarching and encouraging trend in 2025 was the consistent pattern of cities and states independently increasing their financial support for early learning, creating a patchwork of progress across the country. Emmy Liss, a researcher at the think tank New America’s New Practice Lab, identified several key examples of this local-level momentum. The cities of Cincinnati and Montana, along with California’s Alameda County, all bolstered their investments in early learning programs through various municipal channels. In a particularly notable move, San Antonio expanded its highly successful pre-K program to serve a younger demographic, now including infants and toddlers, addressing a critical gap in the child care landscape. This surge of local investment reflects a growing consensus among mayors and county officials who, often mandated by their communities, are recognizing that families can no longer be expected to bear the crushing burdens of an inadequate and unaffordable child care system alone.
This wave of local support was not only characterized by increased spending but also by creative new approaches to funding. In a prime example of direct democracy at work, voters in Colorado approved the creation of new “taxing districts,” a novel funding mechanism designed to raise sales tax revenue specifically earmarked for early childhood initiatives. This model allows communities to self-fund programs, ensuring a dedicated and sustainable stream of revenue that is less susceptible to the whims of annual budget negotiations. This trend indicates a significant political shift, where local leaders are finding that investing in early childhood education is not just good policy but also good politics. The willingness of voters to tax themselves for this purpose demonstrates a powerful public mandate and a clear understanding that high-quality early care and education is an essential component of community infrastructure, akin to roads, schools, and public safety.
The Tangible Impact of Family-Forward Policies
Several states took meaningful legislative action to expand policies that directly support families with young children, with a particular focus on those facing acute medical crises. In Illinois, a new law was passed to address a critical information gap that often left vulnerable families without necessary support. The law now requires that families with infants who have an extended stay in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) are automatically connected to early intervention services. This simple but profound change ensures that parents are made aware of and can easily access the crucial developmental therapies to which their infant is entitled, removing a significant bureaucratic barrier during an already overwhelming time. This policy provides a vital safety net, helping to mitigate the long-term developmental risks associated with premature birth and complex medical conditions by facilitating timely access to care.
Complementing this focus on early intervention, other states enhanced support for working parents. Colorado, for example, expanded its paid family and medical leave program by specifically adding NICU leave, providing parents with critical job-protected time off during a highly stressful period. This targeted policy acknowledges the unique challenges faced by families of medically fragile infants, allowing them to provide essential care without risking their economic stability. Meanwhile, Minnesota policymakers were reported to be on the cusp of launching their own statewide paid family leave program, contributing to a growing national trend of states taking the lead on creating more supportive environments for working parents. These actions demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of family needs and a commitment to building a comprehensive support infrastructure that strengthens families from a child’s very first days.
Revitalizing the Essential Role of Play
Recognizing decades of research on the critical importance of play for healthy child development, Pittsburgh launched a major citywide initiative to put that research into tangible action. The program, named “Let’s Play, PGH,” is funded by a forward-thinking collaboration between the nonprofit Remake Learning and the Grable and Henry L. Hillman foundations. After several years of supporting smaller, disparate play-based projects, the initiative rolled out permanent, accessible play experiences across the city in 2025, marking a significant escalation of its commitment. This effort is grounded in the scientific consensus that unstructured, child-led play is not a frivolous activity but a fundamental engine of learning, fostering creativity, problem-solving skills, and social-emotional growth. The initiative represents a conscious, city-level effort to reclaim play as an essential component of a healthy childhood.
The “Let’s Play, PGH” initiative is designed to counteract a societal trend of devaluing play in favor of more “serious” academic pursuits and to provide a healthy, engaging alternative to the excessive screen time that became prevalent during the pandemic era. Its flagship installations include a “Clayground,” where families can engage in hands-on clay sculpting, and a “Discovery Tree,” a large indoor structure featuring various play and learning elements. As Tyler Samstag, executive director of Remake Learning, explained, the goal is to embed opportunities for joyful discovery and learning into the fabric of the city. By creating free, high-quality play spaces, Pittsburgh is sending a clear message about what it values and is actively working to restore a sense of balance to modern childhood, ensuring that children have the space and freedom to learn in the way that comes most naturally to them.
An Uncertain Path Forward
The year concluded with a complex mix of hard-won optimism and deep-seated concern among early childhood experts. The powerful momentum witnessed at the state level clashed with the stark reality of looming “budgetary headwinds” and the persistent threat of potentially harmful federal policies. This created a dual challenge for advocates, who found themselves championing bold, progressive state initiatives while simultaneously playing defense against federal actions that could undermine critical safety net programs and state budgets. The finalization of federal funding bills in early 2026 was identified as a critical juncture that could either sustain or derail local progress. As the year drew to a close, a central debate emerged: whether the policy narrative focused on universal child care as an economic support for adults would ultimately overshadow the fundamental developmental needs of young children, a tension that would undoubtedly shape the landscape in the year to come.
