Our access to a major source of free news and educational content is at risk of being cut off just when we need these resources the most. 

In May, Trump issued an executive order – “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media” – that demanded an end to federal funding for PBS and NPR. Earlier this month, the House voted to approve the order from the White House – known as a rescissions request – that would cancel funding already appropriated by Congress for the more than $1 billion approved to fund public broadcasting for the next two years. The proposed action is now being debated in the Senate, and some Democratic lawmakers say Trump is trying to fast-track its passage and circumvent the usual process.

For those of us who have been paying attention, this attack on public broadcasting wasn’t shocking or unexpected. After all, Trump tried to slash funding for or totally eliminate the Corporation for Public Broadcasting – a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 – every year during his first term. 

Plus, this was spelled out in Project 2025, which referred to PBS and NPR as “leftist broadcasters,” and specially called out Sesame Street as “biased to the Left.” I can’t quite figure out how Elmo and Cookie Monster could be construed as political figures, or how teaching young children to count or learn their ABCs could be considered part of a biased agenda. 

There is one bit of good news. Sesame Workshop – the company behind the beloved and iconic show Sesame Street – recently announced that they’ve reached a deal with Netflix. The streaming service will broadcast new seasons of Sesame Street while also making the library of past seasons available to subscribers. New episodes will also simultaneously be available on PBS stations and PBS KIDS digital platforms in the U.S., making them accessible for free to people who don’t have a Netflix subscription. 

I’ve had a connection with Sesame Street my entire life (the show made its debut a few weeks before I was born). I’ve written about the huge impact the show had on my childhood, as a kid growing up in poverty who didn’t have the chance to go to preschool. Sure, the show was funny and creative, but its value went way beyond that. For kids like me, this was a valuable source of education – one that we kids desperately needed. 

The Netflix deal seems to have given Sesame Street a lifeline, at least for now, although it still gets some funding from PBS so it’s unclear what, if any, impact any cuts to PBS would have on that particular program. However, lots of other content produced or supported by PBS and NPR are still at risk – and that includes everything from Daniel Tiger to Fresh Air and All Things Considered. 

The potential loss of educational programming for children would be especially hurtful right now when compounded with all of the other proposed policy changes that would further widen the gap between children from lower-income families and their more financially well-off peers. 

Trump had floated the idea of eliminating Head Start – another move suggested in Project 2025 – but no funding cuts for Head Start were included in his proposed 2026 budget. However, his proposed budget does call for flat or reduced funding for an assortment of childcare and early learning programs. Of course, this is in addition to a wide range of other proposed actions that could harm vulnerable children, especially those from low-income families – things like dismantling the Education Department and making significant cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. 

We should always strive to be informed about what’s happening around us, but  awareness of current events is especially crucial right now, when so many important (and often anxiety-inducing) things are in the news on a daily basis, and the attention economy doesn’t always leave room for truth and transparency 

The majority of Americans have cut their cable subscriptions. While many have turned to streaming services instead, many low-income families rely mainly on free services for TV and radio programming – and public broadcasting is one valuable resource for those households. 

Information and educational content shouldn’t be a commodity only available to a privileged few. 

What can you do? Reach out to your federal lawmakers (regardless of their party) to let them know how important public access programming is to you. Review these tips for taking action.