City Council endorses statewide child care assistance bill - Daily Free Press
By Madison Mercado
Boston City Councilors endorsed the statewide Common Start legislation at Wednesday’s meeting, adopting a resolution in support of the bill.
The proposed bill would provide access to high-quality and affordable early education and child care to all families in the Commonwealth through the use of public funding…
Andrew Farnitano, communications consultant for the Common Sense Coalition, said the bill, which would roll out over five years, could help address three key issues in the state’s early education: families being unable to afford child care, providers closing when they cannot afford workers and educators who are underpaid and end up leaving the profession.
Funding from the bill would provide subsidies for parents so they do not pay more than 7% of their annual income on child care costs, which would help low-income families facing a lengthy waitlist for state assistance and middle-income families who are asked to pay “market rate” prices for child care because they aren’t eligible for state assistance, Farnitano said.