{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://davids.house.gov/media/press-releases/davids-visits-el-centros-head-start-program-highlights-pushback-threats-early", "Davids Visits El Centro\u2019s Head Start Program, Highlights Pushback on Threats to Early Childhood Education", "2025-07-29", "2025", "2025-07", "Democrat", "House", "KS", "Sharice Davids", "D000629", "davids.house.gov", "davids", "https://davids.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "KANSAS CITY, KS \u2014 Today, Representative Sharice Davids visited El Centro\u2019s Head Start program in Kansas City, KS to meet with students, educators, and staff. During her visit, Davids read to children and spoke with faculty about the importance of affordable, reliable early childhood education \u2014 especially for working parents.\n\n\u201cPrograms like Head Start are about more than just learning \u2014 they\u2019re about making sure parents can go to work knowing their kids are safe, supported, and on track to succeed,\u201d said Davids. \u201cDecades of research has proven Head Start\u2019s personal and economic benefits. We should be expanding access to early childhood education, not threatening the programs that make it possible for families and children to get ahead.\u201d\n\nDavids\u2019 visit follows recent federal actions that have put added strain on Head Start providers. Last week, government investigators found that the Trump Administration illegally withheld Head Start funds, disrupting care for families across the country. President Trump has also floated proposals to eliminate the program altogether, calling its curriculum \u201cradical.\u201d Davids has pushed back against these efforts in Washington, working to protect investments that lower costs for families and support the child care workforce.\n\n\"We are thankful for Rep. Davids' support of child care availability and for working hard to make it more affordable for all our families,\u201d said Erica Andrade, President and CEO of El Centro. \u201cFor El Centro, our Academy for Children is a cornerstone program that provides community access to early childhood education, which is the foundation for creating lifelong learners. Our dual-language academy embraces both Spanish and English \u2014 helping children maintain their home language or exposing them to a second language \u2014 while also preparing them for kindergarten.\u201d\n\nEl Centro\u2019s partner, The Family Conservancy, has experienced recent federal funding cuts tied to workforce capacity issues. Despite long waitlists of Kansas families, many providers continue to face staffing shortages that limit enrollment and strain already tight budgets. Davids is working in Congress to strengthen the early education workforce and ensure programs like Head Start can continue serving Kansas families.\n\n\"Child care is essential community infrastructure, and it\u2019s time we invest in it like our future depends on it \u2014 because it does,\u201d said Paula Neth, President and CEO, The Family Conservancy. \u201cWe all pay the price when families struggle to find and afford care, and providers are asked to do more with less. This is more than a personal challenge \u2014 it\u2019s a community crisis. We\u2019re grateful for leaders like Representative Sharice Davids who understand what\u2019s at stake and are working to expand access for families across Kansas and beyond.\"\n\nAs a first-generation college student who worked her way from Leavenworth High School to Cornell Law School, Davids understands the value of quality education for student success and our overall economy. She has long fought to protect education and child care in Kansas and has been a fierce critic of the administration\u2019s efforts to defund and reorganize the Department of Education. She has visited multiple Head Start programs in Kansas including Kansas City Kansas Public School's Successful Beginnings, The Family Conservancy, the University of Kansas Medical Center's Project Eagle, and Olathe Public Schools Head Start.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T14:40:33Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://davids.house.gov/media/press-releases/davids-visits-el-centros-head-start-program-highlights-pushback-threats-early"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5167403034865856, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}