Marisshia Sigala secures her son Mateo in his car seat after picking him up after work from the Koala Children's Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on March 20, 2024. Like most other New Mexico families, Sigala and her husband qualify for subsidized child care in New Mexico, providing them more flexibility to see more clients as they build their careers.
River Yang, 3, looks out the window of a school bus on May 6, 2024, as it prepares to depart the Meadow Lakes CCS Early Learning, a Head Start center in Wasilla, Alaska. Head Start providers nationwide are contending with intermittent funding delays and policy changes that have upended the program for much of its 60th anniversary year.
Kindergarten students practice greeting each other in a dual-language immersion class. Teachers report that more kindergartners are coming to class unable to effectively manage their emotions.