The National Child Care Staffing Study, released in 1989, brought national attention for the first time to poverty-level wages and high turnover among early childhood teaching staff, and to the adverse consequences for children of such staffing instability. In the succeeding 25 years, the national debate about the role of early care and education in children’s lives has shifted dramatically—above all, due to a recognition up to the highest levels of government that high-quality early learning boosts children’s school readiness, and constitutes a wise economic investment in the nation’s future.