The Texas Tribune

TribCast: Did Texas quietly help with its child care crisis?

In this week's episode, Matthew and Eleanor speak with K-12 education reporter Jaden Edison and early learning advocate David Feigen about the shortage of affordable child care in Texas.

by Matthew Watkins Dec. 3, 2025, 2:44 p.m. Central

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TribCast: Did Texas quietly help with its child care crisis?

by Matthew Watkins, The Texas Tribune
December 3, 2025

<h1>TribCast: Did Texas quietly help with its child care crisis?</h1>
<p class="byline">by Matthew Watkins, The Texas Tribune <br />December 3, 2025</p>

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<p>In this week's episode, Matthew and Eleanor speak with K-12 education reporter Jaden Edison and early learning advocate David Feigen about the shortage of affordable child care in Texas. Why didn’t a $100 million investment this year help as much as advocates had hoped? And will the school voucher program turn out to be a big boost for parents and the industry? </p>
<p>Watch the video above, or subscribe to the TribCast on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/texas-tribune-tribcast/id338118901">iTunes</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/179QJgS6m0z2zShjfFsEJv">Spotify</a>, or RSS. New episodes every Tuesday.</p></p>
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TribCast: Did Texas quietly help with its child care crisis?

Matthew Watkins, The Texas Tribune
December 3, 2025

In this week's episode, Matthew and Eleanor speak with K-12 education reporter Jaden Edison and early learning advocate David Feigen about the shortage of affordable child care in Texas. Why didn’t a $100 million investment this year help as much as advocates had hoped? And will the school voucher program turn out to be a big boost for parents and the industry? 

Watch the video above, or subscribe to the TribCast on iTunes, Spotify, or RSS. New episodes every Tuesday.

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.

Tracking snippet:

In this week’s episode, Matthew and Eleanor speak with K-12 education reporter Jaden Edison and early learning advocate David Feigen about the shortage of affordable child care in Texas. Why didn’t a $100 million investment this year help as much as advocates had hoped? And will the school voucher program turn out to be a big boost for parents and the industry?

Watch the video above, or subscribe to the TribCast on iTunes, Spotify, or RSS. New episodes every Tuesday.

Learn about The Texas Tribune’s policies, including our partnership with The Trust Project to increase transparency in news.

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Matthew WatkinsEditor in Chief

mwatkins@texastribune.org

Matthew Watkins began serving as editor in chief of the Tribune in September 2024. Matthew is a Texas native, born in Houston and raised in Austin. He attended public schools and graduated from Texas A&M... More by Matthew Watkins