Early childhood education and care professionals say coronavirus reveals need for more public funding, systemic overhauls - MassLive
By Benjamin Kail
With the coronavirus pandemic shaking up an already-struggling early childhood education and care industry that lacks the infrastructure of the K-12 system, Massachusetts professionals, advocates and lawmakers on Tuesday called for an infusion of public funding and a reimagining of how the state and employers support working families and child care facilities…
Jynai McDonald, the family child care coordinator for the Service Employees International Union 509, said some providers are considering remaining closed due to increased operating expenses and an inability to maintain a steady income amid concerns of exposure or a potential surge in COVID-19 cases.
While many facilities have received grants and funding through coronavirus relief packages approved by Congress and the state, McDonald said the “current business model for family child care providers still needs to be re-examined.”
McDonald called for the state to offer providers $30,000 in annual income to cover basic operating costs. She noted that 90% of family child care providers are women-owned, and more than half are women of color.
“It’s a matter of equity. We have to invest more in early education and recruit and retrain, especially family child care educators,” she said. “Families who work in low-wage jobs are almost always employed in industries where they can’t work remotely. Child care needs to work for families who have to return to work.”
Companies that can offer remote working are seeing 30% to 40% of employees planning to stay home amid the pandemic, according to J.D. Chesloff, executive director of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable.
“You’re going to see competition amongst employees around benefits like you do now, but focused on remote working,” said Chesloff, who also pushed for a public, high-quality early education system.