Early education advocates rally for ‘A Day Without Child Care’ – Boston Globe
By Gal Tziperman Lotan
Child-care workers and advocates came out to about 90 playgrounds, T stops, and public squares across Massachusetts Monday to talk to parents and community members about the importance of their work and advocate for publicly funded universal early childhood education.
The actions were part of a “Day Without Child Care,” a national day of action for child-care workers. Some providers closed their doors for the day or for a few hours, and others rallied, called elected officials, or encouraged their families to support legislation that supports them
“Our economy can’t run without child care,” said Latoya Gayle, senior director of advocacy at the Neighborhood Villages Action Fund, an education advocacy organization that helped organize events in Massachusetts. “And it should be treated as a public good.”…
Gayle said the child-care providers and advocates who came to playgrounds and town squares Monday encouraged the people they spoke with to tell their state legislators to support legislation known as “Common Start,” written to raise the wages of child-care employees while limiting what families pay for their work.
“There are so many people who are actively raising young children. And they can’t do what they need to do without child care,” Gayle said.