Today’s Issue: Silent Students & Big Futures; SEED Act Victory; ECE in the News = 1.5 cups of coffee.

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🚨 It’s Happening

Next Monday we release our AI Competitive Report —and for the first time, you’ll see exactly how your center stacks up in AI search. We built this after seeing a major shift: parents are relying on AI to make enrollment decisions, but providers are flying blind. Now you won’t be. The centers that act on this early will have a massive advantage going into 2026 back to school and beyond.

While the official release isn’t scheduled until 5/10/26, if you want to sign up early, please email us at [email protected] for an early sign up code. Put “Sign Me Up” in the subject line!

🙋 Raising Your Hand in Class Takes Guts & ECE Helps Build Confidence

You know the one. Quiet. Won't raise their hand. Makes you wonder. But here's the thing, silence isn't absence. A new study makes the case that ECE classrooms are literally writing the script for who speaks up in school and who sits quietly in the back. And it starts way before kindergarten. The child who moves their chair one inch closer to the circle? That is participation. When ECE environments feel safe enough to try, kids build the muscle for public confidence that carries them all the way to college and boardrooms. The hand that doesn't go up today... needs a safer entry point, not a louder prompt. That's our job. Read the full piece HERE.

📊 YOUR VOICE: Let's Talk Resilience

🌱 SEED Act Passes the House — ECE Educators Finally Get Their Due

For the first time ever, ECE educators are included in the federal educator expense tax deduction. This is a BIG deal.

The bipartisan Supporting Early-Childhood Educators' Deductions (SEED) Act just passed the U.S. House of Representatives. Here's what your staff needs to know right now:

What the SEED Act Does:

• ✅ Extends the existing federal educator tax deduction to early childhood educators for the first time in history!

• ✅ Allows ECE educators to deduct up to $350 in out-of-pocket classroom expenses

• ✅ Covers supplies, materials, and professional development costs

• ✅ Mirrors the same benefit K-12 teachers have had for years

• ✅ Bipartisan support; passed with backing from both sides of the aisle

Why It Matters:

• ECE educators earn modest wages yet routinely spend their own money on books, learning tools, and classroom materials

• This deduction acknowledges the financial sacrifice your teachers make every day

• It's a retention and morale win. Your staff deserves to hear about this

Immediate Steps You Can Take:

• 📣 Share this with your staff today — many won't know about it

• 📋 Encourage educators to start tracking out-of-pocket expenses from here on out — receipts, invoices, Amazon orders, everything

• 📣 Contact your Senators and urge them to pass the SEED Act — it still needs Senate approval before becoming law

• 💬 Bring it up at your next staff meeting as a morale boost and a reminder that their work is being recognized at the federal level

The bill was championed by Reps. Panetta, Fitzpatrick, Goodlander, and Valadao. Now it needs to clear the Senate.

👉 Read the full article here.

📰 ECE In The News

🍑 Tennessee Gets Creative With Child Care Cash: The Volunteer State is piloting something you don't see every day, using revenue from a foreign money transfer tax to fund child care subsidies. The pilot program could unlock a new, unconventional funding stream for ECE access, one that doesn't touch traditional budget lines. Is this the outside-the-box thinking the field has been waiting for? Eyes on Nashville. Get the details HERE.

📈 Record-Breaking Preschool Enrollment: More 4-year-olds are in state-funded preschool than ever before, 1.8 million kids and counting, with states spending a record $14.4 billion. That's 37% of all 4-year-olds now in public preschool. The kicker? States with high-quality programs are seeing kids arrive at kindergarten more confident, more regulated, and more ready. Translation: what we do now is showing up in the data. Keep going. Full story HERE.

🌐 The Internet is a Playground:

🗓️ On This Day in History: On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space, launching aboard Freedom 7 and completing a 15-minute suborbital flight. A former Navy test pilot who refused to take "impossible" for an answer — and a reminder that the bravery to launch into the unknown starts with confidence built young. Tip: Ask your kiddos today what they'd do if they could go to space. You might be surprised what future astronauts are sitting in your circle time. 🚀

📄 Game: Unfold the paper.

YOUR VOICE COUNTS

Is there a topic you want more info on or want to share a funny story? Then let us know! Shoot us a quick email at [email protected]. This newsletter is for you, and well, you should have a say, don't’ you think?