Our new host Ben Jones, Director of Legal & Policy Initiatives, explores the issue of Preschool Pushout. Every year, our youngest learners are pushed out of early childhood education settings through formal expulsions, but much more commonly, they are pushed out by informal means. We hear from two experts and a parent on not only the depth and personal impact of the issue, but how we can make progress in the name of kids.

"What a tragedy it is, right at very beginning of a child's educational career to be told that school isn't the right place for them at three years old. Can you imagine that? And yet that happens all the time. Every single year we expel enough children to be able to fill up Yankee Stadium and Medlife Stadium and still have children standing in the parking lot without a place to sit." - Dr. Gilliam.

Interviewees:
Walter S. Gilliam, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Buffett Early Childhood Institute.
Alejandra Jaramillo, a parent of a young student who was pushed out of preschool.
Shantel E. Meek, Ph.D., Founding Director of the Children's Equity Project at ASU.

Lives In The Balance:
Visit our Action Center to join in the movement.
Register for our 2026 Annual Summit - Between Alarm and Opportunity: Kids in the Digital Age - presented virtually on May 20, 2026.