My account was hacked so no, I don’t have suggestions for Halloween makeup per ”my” wild retweets (sorry!). I do have a new story up though, in which I traveled to rural Ohio to see how communities that voted for Trump feel about Head Start uncertainty:
hechingerreport.org/rural-americ...

America's child care system relies on immigrants. Without them, it could collapse. Important story from @jackiemader.bsky.social on how the Trump administration's policies will make it harder for families to access care and impact kindergarten readiness over time hechingerreport.org/americas-chi...

Child care teachers in the US make about $32,000 a year. This (and tough working conditions) has created mass child care teacher shortages & extremely high turnover rates.Our child care industry has long relied on immigrants, especially in big cities. My latest:
hechingerreport.org/americas-chi...

“I think something people don’t always recognize is that summer is the hungriest time of year for families." hechingerreport.org/young-childr... @jackiemader.bsky.social explains why

Important #earlyed solution story by Liz Bell: www.ednc.org/06-24-2025-e...

Important reporting: www.wweek.com/news/schools...

The concept of inclusion raises the ire of the Trump administration — with research that includes the words inclusion or disability under federal scrutiny — Nebraska is a case study of what can happen when schools prioritize it: hechingerreport.org/nebraska-inv... via @jackiemader.bsky.social

A buried provision in the "big beautiful bill" effectively penalizes single parents who receive SNAP, or food stamps, as compared to households headed by married couples.

Wrote about this today. But I shall thread for those who don't want to click! www.axios.com/2025/05/28/t...

Thrilled to work with such amazing colleagues. @hechingerreport.org won 6 of 17 categories at the @edwriters.bsky.social 2024 awards! 🥂 to @jackiemader.bsky.social @lizhech.bsky.social @sarahbutro.bsky.social @jonmarcusboston.bsky.social and...

Such important reporting (and a wild exchange..)

This is my scoop that she's asking RFK about: the administration is sitting on hundreds in millions of funding for childcare that's legally owed to states www.the74million.org/article/offi...

The other day I spent 27 minutes with four editors agonizing over a 5-word headline for an upcoming story. And then there's stuff like this: www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...

First, Head Start payments were delayed. Now, federal child care subsidy funds: www.the74million.org/article/offi...

Unlike funding for preschool and older children, which largely comes from state sources, funding for programs that support babies and toddlers mostly comes from the federal government. Here's how proposed cuts will trickle down to hurt infants and toddlers:

hechingerreport.org/as-conservat...

Promoting strong child-caregiver relationships is central to the HealthySteps model. 👨‍🍼

Excellent reporting from @jackiemader.bsky.social on "serve and return" interactions and why they're so critical for early childhood development! www.kqed.org/mindshift/65...

If Head Start is eliminated, there will be massive consequences in many of the rural communities that voted for the Republican ticket. About 46 percent of all funded Head Start slots are in rural congressional districts, compared to 22 percent in urban districts.
hechingerreport.org/as-federal-d...

(This is related to EO 14222) The email warns programs that "..processing times for new payment requests may be different than those experienced previously." If they are denied, grantees must add justification by navigating to a DOGE site #HeadStart

Head Start grantees have been telling me that their funding requests have been kicked back for not including enough "justification" of why they are drawing down their funds. Today, ACF sent an email to grantees that their funding will be now approved or denied based on those justifications

As we watch the slow starve of Head Start, legislators around the nation are continuing to push for child care deregulation rather than investment. My latest from my early childhood newsletter this week: hechingerreport.org/states-try-t...

Re-upping this past story of mine for added context on how federal Head Start provides funding to support small, home-based programs. When I visited rural Colorado, one provider saw her quality improve and income double thanks to a Head Start partnership program:
hechingerreport.org/a-little-kno...