Elliot’s Provocations

Elliot’s Provocations unpacks current events in the early learning world and explores how we can chart a path to a...

Welcome to the first edition of my new monthly column, “Elliot’s Provocations.” The goal of this column is to unpack...

While there is much to celebrate about the Inflation Reduction Act, one group was left on the outside looking in: parents with young children.

Last year, I wrote a column on five trends to look for in 2023 (which I think in retrospect were mostly apt, though the answer to ‘is bipartisanship possible’ seems to have been ‘outlook not so good’), and thought it would be worthwhile to do it again as the calendar gets ready to turn.

Amid major union actions in the auto and entertainment industries and a historic looming strike by health care workers, I want to talk about the role of unions in child care.

I dislike the economic case for child care. I’m not talking about my take on the role of employers, but the near-constant way lawmakers and advocates of both parties rest their case for supporting child care on its function as an economic driver.

Elliot’s Provocations unpacks current events in the early learning world and explores how we can chart a path to a...

The phrase “corporate child care” has always struck me as a bad joke, something that belongs more in a Boss Baby movie than as a substantial part of the U.S. child care landscape.

The U.S. child care system falls deeper into crisis with every passing day. The sector is still missing 100,000 educators compared to before the pandemic, and amid a competitive labor market, the staffing recovery has slowed to a crawl.

Happy New Year! As 2023 kicks off, I wanted to highlight five early learning trends to be watching this year.

If you’ve been following my work for the past year, you know I am deeply concerned about how unprepared our child- and family-serving systems are for this new reality. I’m not the only one. A new report puts a fine point on why early care & education stakeholders need to have a climate strategy, and why public officials need to have ECE in their climate strategy: a staggering number of child care programs are under threat.