This story originally appeared in Kids Today, Voxs newsletter about kids, for everyone. Sign up here for future editions.Its preschool application season in New York City, where I live. That means parents of toddlers are eagerly and anxiously signing on to a (surprisingly user-friendly) city-run website and ranking their preferred programs, in the hopes that, come fall, their 3- and 4-year-olds will be able to go to a high-quality pre-K in their community for free.These programs are huge for families, who otherwise would be spending tens of thousands of dollars a year on day care. They can be wonderful for kids, who are better prepared for kindergarten and more likely to go to college one day. And theyre a surprising bright spot in an otherwise bleak child care landscape. In recent years, states like California, Colorado, and New Mexico have expanded their publicly funded pre-K options. New York City has staved off some proposed funding cuts to its program for 3-year-olds, thanks in part to the activism of families who have come to count on it. Preschool has emerged as that rare issue with bipartisan support, as lawmakers in deep-red states like Alabama increase funding to their programs. In 20222023, enrollment in publicly funded preschool hit an all-time high, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research.Preschool still faces plenty of challenges funding remains uneven, not all programs are high-quality, and the Trump administrations threatened funding freeze is still creating chaos for some federally funded programs. But the relative success of programs across the country and the way theyve been sold to lawmakers and the public could hold lessons for all of us as we move through the uncharted waters of Trump 2.0.Pre-K can have huge benefits for kids and familiesAt the most basic level, preschool helps get kids ready for school. Children who go through a pre-K program are more likely to have pre-literacy and pre-numeracy skills that can help them in kindergarten, and are more used to being in a school-like setting, Elliot Haspel, a family policy expert and senior fellow at the think tank Capita, told me.I saw this with my older kid, who learned how to wait in line and how to pack and unpack a backpack in pre-K skills we take for granted, but that have to come from somewhere.RelatedA sneaky way to boost kids literacyThe benefits dont stop at kindergarten, though (or at backpack loading). One study found that kids who went to preschool were more likely than their peers of similar backgrounds to graduate from high school, take the SAT, and go to college.Other research is more mixed, and not all programs have the same results. But one of the most widespread effects of preschool is also one of the simplest: Pre-K is a source of dependable, free child care, which helps parents work and reduces the economic stress on families, Haspel said. One study found that universal preschool raised parents average earnings by 21.7 percent per year for each year a child was in the program. Increasing the economic stability of a family, in turn, is correlated with any number of positive educational, health, and socio-emotional outcomes for children, Haspel said.How universal preschool spreadAdvocates have been pushing to get more families access to these benefits for decades, but the idea of universal preschool really began taking off nationwide in the 2000s, thanks in part to a campaign by the Pew Charitable Trusts called Pre-K Now, Haspel said. The idea of subsidized child care has been stigmatized in America for over a century, Haspel has argued, seen as a form of welfare for poor children and subject to racism, classism, and a bias against working mothers. So Pre-K Now focused on preschool, putting the emphasis on education rather than care.In some places, preschool has become a part of life, and families wont give it up without a fight.In this country, public education is a right, Haspel told me. Americans have come to expect free, universal education as part of the infrastructure of their towns and cities. Pre-K Now and other advocates built on this expectation, pushing to expand the public education system to include younger kids.In a lot of places, it worked. In 20012002, 14 percent of 4-year-olds were enrolled in publicly funded preschool; by 20222023, the share had more than doubled, to 35 percent.Thats still a minority, but campaigns are continuing. In 2022, for example, New Mexico voters passed a constitutional amendment guaranteeing a right to early childhood education, and creating a funding stream of about $150 million every year, much of which goes to preschool programs. California, meanwhile, aims to give all 4-year-olds in the state access to free preschool by the fall.In some places, preschool has become a part of life, and families wont give it up without a fight. New York City has had free, universal preschool for 4-year-olds since 2014, and then-Mayor Bill de Blasio promised that universal 3-K for 3-year-olds would be next. But his successor, Eric Adams, backed away from that goal, and last year, about 2,500 kids whose families applied did not get a 3-K offer.Parents pushed back, signing petitions and calling their council members. All families who applied ultimately received offers that year (though some spent time on wait lists), and the mayor reversed some planned cuts to the programs budget, said Rebecca Bailin, founder and executive director of the advocacy group New Yorkers United for Child Care. It is a real proof of concept, that organizing on this issue was broadly popular, Bailin told me.The future of early childhood educationLike any public policy, universal preschool is complicated in some places, publicly funded pre-K has actually harmed child care access for infants and toddlers by siphoning resources away from day care providers, Haspel said. In New York, the Adams administration initially prioritized affordable child care for low-income communities over universal 3-K.But it doesnt have to be a zero-sum game, some advocates say. New Yorkers United for Child Care is now campaigning to expand the citys commitment to universal early education to include 2-year-olds. This is a cost that everybody has to bear, Bailin said. Theres no reason why our government cant provide it.Our government, at least at the federal level, now seems to be collapsing around our ears, and it can be hard to be optimistic about any policy change. At the same time, preschool is typically offered by states or cities, whose governments are likely to become ever more important to average citizens in times of federal upheaval. Support for preschool also transcends party lines, with states like Florida, Iowa, and Oklahoma leading the pack when it comes to enrollment.If there are lessons in the success of pre-K, some of them are clearly about branding, which is a little depressing (do we have to be so afraid, as a society, of offering child care?). But theyre also about persistence.The campaign to pass an early childhood amendment in New Mexico took more than 10 years, said Jacob Vigil, deputy policy director of the nonprofit New Mexico Voices for Children. Along the way, backers of the amendment had to build a coalition composed not just of child care advocates, but of immigrants and workers rights groups as well. That kind of trust can take a long time to build, Vigil said. At least in New Mexico, though, it eventually paid off, which feels like as good a lesson for right now as any.What Im readingSchool attendance was down 20 percent in the Los Angeles Unified School District last week, which the superintendent attributes both to fear of ICE raids and students participating in protests against Trumps immigration policies.The Trump administrations anti-DEI efforts could harm Black students academically and psychologically.A new bill, the Kids Off Social Media Act, aims to stop kids under 13 from creating social media accounts. Like other legislation of its kind, it might not work.Yes, my older kid has now discovered the mega-popular Wings of Fire series, about a world of dragons with various powers and inter-dragon grievances. We started with A Guide to the Dragon World, which is sort of an ancillary text and honestly pretty confusing to newcomers. I will report back when we understand anything.From my inboxIn response to my story last week about Donald Trumps executive orders affecting trans kids, a reader asked, How many trans kids are reliant on Medicaid for their gender-affirming care? This question turns out to be a little difficult to answer. The federal government doesnt collect data on how many people, kids or adults, access gender-affirming care through Medicaid, Elana Redfield, federal policy director at the Williams Institute, told me. We do know that 26 states have passed laws banning gender-affirming care for youth, and that about 40 percent of trans youth live in those states, meaning they are likely unable to access care using Medicaid (or any insurance), unless the bans have been blocked in court. In the remaining states, young people could potentially use Medicaid for gender-affirming care, but some hospitals have stopped offering such care in the wake of Trumps executive orders. If youre looking for an estimate of how many young people, generally, access gender-affirming care, Reuters has some data from 20172021, but their analysis doesnt break out people who used Medicaid specifically.I hope this is helpful, and thanks for the question! You can always reach me with queries or recommendations for future stories at anna.north@vox.com.See More: