NearBase exists where the crisis meets its best fix: helping families find genuinely great early childhood programs.
Fewer than 1 in 3 American students read at grade level (Nation's Report Card, 2025). The decline started before COVID. The early years are where it can be fixed.
In January 2025 the Nation's Report Card confirmed what educators had been watching for a decade: fewer than one third of American students read at grade level. Scores have declined by a full grade level in some states since 2013 — and COVID accelerated a collapse that was already underway. The research is unambiguous: the trajectory is set early, the gap opens before kindergarten, and the families with the least information pay the most for it. NearBase exists to close the information half of that gap — starting with the military families who restart their search from zero every two to three years.
Charters held stable through the decline. The strongest early programs — Montessori, bilingual, play-based — are exactly what most families can't find.
4th and 8th grade reading, 2024 vs 2022 — steepening since 2019.
25th-percentile students lost 8 points since 2013; charter peers held steady.
Science −4 since 2019; 12th-grade math and reading −3. Every subject.
Chronic absenteeism: still 2× pre-pandemic, four years on.
1 in 2,500 teachers loses a license for performance. Doctors: 1 in 57.
Montessori programs show consistently higher outcomes in reading, math, executive function, and social skills — independent of socioeconomic background.
Why smaller is better, from the founder of Wildflower's 70+ micro-schools.
The film that named the crisis — with DC at its center.
The most-viewed TED talk ever: schools educate children out of creativity.
Grit: the predictor IQ doesn't measure — and it forms early.
Computer scientist → Google personalization lead → MIT Media Lab → founder of 70+ Montessori micro-schools.
Same instinct here: don't wait for the system. Build the connective tissue yourself.
The Military Family Childcare Standard: what every program should publish, openly.
Waitlist time, acceptance age, tuition — published openly.
Programs serving military communities should understand MCCYN, EFMP, deployment flexibility, and mid-year enrollment.
Sibling capacity — published, because military families need both kids placed.
Subsidies accepted — DC subsidy, MCCYN, Head Start — published, not discovered by phone.
Portfolio handoff and transfer flexibility for PCSing families.
Family experience — waitlist reality, director warmth — shared forward.
New schools, waitlist changes, and military discounts near your next base — one short email when it matters, never spam.