Advocates Call for Affordable, High-Quality Early Education and Child Care for All at Legislative Hearing on Common Start Bill
Parents, Early Educators, Early Education and Child Care Providers, Business Leaders and Policy Experts to Testify During Education Committee Hearing
ACROSS MASSACHUSETTS – Amid a multifaceted child care crisis that is forcing parents out of the workforce, shuttering child care centers, and hurting businesses across the state, momentum is building for state action that would address the early education and child care needs of families and businesses while ensuring that providers and early educators are fairly compensated for their work.
During a Tuesday hearing of the state legislature’s Joint Committee on Education, more than a dozen parents, early educators, early education and child care providers, business leaders, and policy experts testified in support of the Common Start legislation, which would establish a comprehensive system of affordable, high-quality early education and child care for Massachusetts families, over a 5-year timeline. The legislation, which is co-sponsored by 98 State Representatives and 30 State Senators, would dramatically increase the affordability and quality of early education and child care for all Massachusetts families while compensating providers for the true cost of providing quality care, including higher educator pay.
“Child care is one of the most pressing needs for families, especially for those who have the very lowest incomes,” said Chelsea Sedani, Director of Advocacy at EMPath, a Boston-based nonprofit which provides emergency shelter and transitional housing as well as economic mobility coaching to approximately 1,400 people annually. “Families we work with spend too much of their income on child care, which means they struggle to pay for other necessities and are at risk of losing their jobs or forfeiting education opportunities. By ensuring that families wouldn’t pay more than seven percent of their income for child care, and making it free for the lowest-income families, the Common Start bill would give all parents a better chance at achieving economic advancement.”
“I wish I had more than three minutes to tell you about all the great things I learned as a child at Head Start as well as explain all the struggles I faced trying to pay for child care for my own children so I could continue to work and obtain my bachelor’s degree,” said Patricia Nadeau, an early childhood educator at PACE Head Start in New Bedford and a parent of two children, now ages 13 and 22. “But what I can confidently tell you is that those of us working in this field love the job we do, but we struggle to make ends meet. Even though many early childhood educators have years of experience and degrees, we are forced to leave the field to work jobs that offer more pay per hour. This bill will help ensure that early educators are paid a livable wage, that providers have the resources to pay us, and that families don't have to bear the whole cost.”
"I’ve been lucky enough to be able to afford high-quality child care for my children, but it costs us $47,000 to send our two kids to day care four days a week. Many people in my community can’t afford that type of high-quality child care. While my kids were attending the daycare of our choice and I worked the job that I loved with a loving husband at my side, another person close to me in my community was struggling with a very difficult choice,” said Kristen Guichard, a Littleton parent of two children, ages 1 and 3. “She was in an abusive relationship, but her partner watched their children and she could not afford other child care. As a result, she felt that she had to stay in that abusive relationship just so that the children could be watched during the day and she could work. It was not until her children were school age that this individual finally left their partner. Our state’s failure to provide access to affordable child care forces parents to make these sort of impossible choices all the time."
The hearing comes on the heels of outdoor ‘playdate rallies’ hosted in local parks and city squares across the state over the last week, where more than 400 parents, educators, and other advocates called for action on the Common Start legislation.
It also occurs as the state’s Special Legislative Early Education and Care Economic Review Commission prepares to issue recommendations for potential legislative changes in how childcare programming is funded in the commonwealth, and as Congress moves toward passage of the Build Back Better legislation. The federal bill, passed by the House last week, would provide the federal resources necessary to jumpstart Massachusetts’ transition to an early education and care system that addresses our overlapping affordability, accessibility, and workforce crises, while setting the overall framework for this comprehensive early education and care system.
“Massachusetts can make high-quality early education affordable for all families. And we can afford it too, thanks to a strong federal-state partnership required by the Build Back Better bill,” said Mark Reilly, Vice President of Policy & Government Relations at Jumpstart. “One of my favorite children’s books is Mo Willem’s “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.” To paraphrase Mo: Don’t Let the Feds Drive the Bus! The child care program alone in Build Back Better is estimated to bring $1.3 billion to Massachusetts in just the first 3 years. But Build Back Better leaves the details to the states and requires a state match to access those federal resources. Rather than be unprepared for the arrival of billions over the next few years without a clear plan, let’s adopt the policy framework of Common Start now and make the most of this moment.”
“As a mother and a small business owner, during the pandemic, I realized that my staff members and subcontractors were facing the same child care challenges I was. I quickly added a new title to my CEO status; I became the chief childcare coordinator. At one point, we opened up the doors of our office so that children could stay there while their parents worked at construction sites," said JC Burton, Founder & CEO, Maven Construction. "We should all want a system of funding that allows our employees to do what's best for their babies. Early childhood education is so critical, and during this post-pandemic recovery time it is critical that we provide access to affordable high-quality early education and child care.”
The Common Start bill would provide a specific structure for spending those federal dollars, and additional state dollars, in a way that would deliver affordable care options for families; significantly better pay and benefits for early educators; a new, stable source of funding for providers; high-quality programs and services for children; and substantial relief for businesses and our economy. The two landmark bills are deeply aligned along several key guiding principles, from providing for a mixed delivery system that includes family child care providers, Head Start programs, child care centers, and public schools, to supporting significantly increased pay for early educators and increased direct funding to providers. Both bills would make child care free for the lowest-income families, and limit child care costs for most families to no more than 7 percent of their income.
“In recent months, even as we have increased pay as much as we currently can, we at East Boston Social Centers have not been able to fully open one of our toddler classrooms—and we haven’t been able to support as many children in school age programs, because of the difficulty hiring teachers and staff,” said Justin Pasquariello, Executive Director of East Boston Social Centers and a board member of the Massachusetts Association for Early Education and Care (MADCA). “We need to prioritize investing in our hard-working early educators and after-school staff to ensure a consistent, valued, credentialed and fairly compensated workforce that promotes high quality care. Increased access to early education will increase school readiness, while increased access to school age programs will support continued educational success. Investments in access also support our economy by allowing more Massachusetts caregivers to work.”
"The Common Start bill is an opportunity to start fixing the childcare system in a way that works not only for families but also for educators,” said Celina Reyes, a family child care educator in Lawrence. “It will establish a system that is not only financially attainable to our families, but sustains family child care educators and allows us to continue educating to our highest capacity."
Momentum for action on the Common Start legislation is building because Massachusetts’ early education and child care system is in crisis. Tens of thousands of women in Massachusetts have left the workforce due to the lack of affordable child care. Many early education and child care providers already have closed their doors, and others are on the verge of going out of business. Early childhood educators are leaving their jobs because of low pay; they can’t afford to work in the field they love and can make more money working in fast food or retail. Employers across the state are suffering due to their employees’ struggles with child care. The lack of a statewide plan and dedicated funding for affordable early education and child care represents one of the greatest unmet needs in the Commonwealth, especially for women and families of color.
“In 2019, we opened the Woodbridge School, a full day, full year childcare program that offers high-quality services for children of all abilities.” said Chris Hunt, Executive Director of The Professional Center for Child Development in Andover. “To accommodate the needs of the children in our school, we provide a lower than industry standard teacher to child ratio, which has allowed some children that struggled in their past childcare placements to succeed here. However, I fear how long we can sustain our school without significant changes to the system. Our integration of therapeutic services is only possible thanks to grants that we’ve receive from private foundations. The Common Start bill would give providers that serve high-needs children additional funding to provide wraparound services like mental, physical, and developmental screenings and additional supportive services, so that every child, regardless of zip code or ability, has access to a high-quality childcare program.”
Speakers at the Education Committee’s hearing urged the legislature to pass the Common Start bill this legislative session and begin take advantage of this incredible opportunity to build the affordable, accessible, high-quality early education and child care system that Massachusetts families deserve.
“The Common Start bill would make a significant investment in equity and the well-being of children and families across the Commonwealth,” said Dr. Ana Poblacion, Research Scientist of Children’s HealthWatch. “Our research at Boston Medical Center shows access to child care is critical for parents to work or further their education, increases family financial stability and promotes the health and development of children.”
“The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated an existing fragility in our society, highlighting the shortfalls of unaffordable childcare and its ruinous impact of parents – particularly mothers – being pushed out of the workforce. It also disproportionately impacts Black and Latinx communities,” said Massachusetts Teachers Association President Merrie Najimy. "Moreover, our children are missing out on vital development, especially after the last two years of social isolation that they have negatively been through.”
“We know that high-quality early education has a direct correlation to a child’s success, preparing our students for success in grades K-12 and into higher education and their entire adult lives,” Najimy added. “Now is the time to make the investment that will positively impact their lives. We must make high-quality early education accessible and affordable to all Massachusetts families.”
“As a family child care educator, this bill is a way to create a more equitable and sustainable system,” said Maritza Manrique, a family child care educator in East Boston. “The legislation’s Bedrock Funding provides a stable source of funding and promotes delivery of higher quality care.”
“Every child deserves high-quality, affordable, and accessible early education,” said Cape Air CEO Dan Wolf. “With this legislation, we have an opportunity to increase the accessibility of early education opportunities for our Commonwealth’s children while addressing the suppressed wages for early childhood educators.”
“In early education one teacher can care for 3 infants, 4 toddlers, or 10 preschoolers. These low ratios lead to high quality, and according to NAEYC accreditation standards the ratios in MA are best practice. More teachers per young child raises the quality of care for our young children but also drives up costs,” said Sarah Siah, Governing Board President of the MA Association for the Education of Young Children (MAAEYC). “The cost of child care in Massachusetts is one of the highest in the nation yet the median income for an early childhood teacher is only $37,000. This is barely considered a living wage in Massachusetts for one adult with children, and many of our educators make less than that. The Common Start Bill would provide a stable, sustainable source of funding to pay living wages for teachers at quality ratios.”
“Paying early childhood educators a fair wage that allows them to focus their energies on their young students would improve their economic health and help to close the racial wealth gap,” said Patti Keenan, Vice President of Advancement, Community and Equity at Ellis Early Learning. “Consistent caregivers improve outcomes for children. As early childhood educators are most often women of color, improving their financial stability contributes to racial justice.”
Background on the Common Start Legislation
The groundbreaking Common Start legislation, H.605 (filed by Representatives Gordon & Madaro) & S.362 (filed by Senators Lewis & Moran), would establish a comprehensive system of affordable, high-quality early education and child care for all Massachusetts families, over a 5-year timeline. This system would cover early education and care for children from birth through age 5, as well as after-and out-of-school time for children ages 5-12, and for children with special needs through age 15. The new system would also ensure that a child who ages out during the school year can remain in care through the end of that school year.
Programs would be available in early education and child care centers, private homes, and schools – the same settings where early education and child care is provided now. The bill provides a framework to increase the scope of public investment in early education and child care with an incremental roll-out over 5 years that prioritizes the lowest-income, highest-need families.
The Common Start legislation would dramatically increase the affordability and quality of early education and child care for all Massachusetts families. The bill’s framework uses a combination of direct-to-provider funding and ongoing family financial assistance to reduce costs to families while compensating providers for the true cost of providing quality care.
Bedrock Funding: The legislation would create a new direct-to-provider funding allocation based on provider capacity (not attendance) that directly offsets provider’s operating costs, including higher educator pay.
Family Subsidy: Once fully implemented, families below 50% of statewide median income (50% of SMI today is $62,668 for a family of four, or $42,614 for a single parent with one child) would be able to access early education and child care options for free. Families with incomes above that threshold would pay no more than 7 percent of their total household income.
Public opinion research demonstrates broad support for a comprehensive system of affordable high-quality early education and child care. In a poll of 800 Massachusetts voters conducted in early December 2020 by Beacon Research for the Common Start Coalition, 64% of Massachusetts voters favored the coalition’s legislative proposal, while only 23% opposed it. Support for the legislation is widespread, with a majority of all regional, gender, age, education, ethnic/racial, and income groups in the poll supporting the proposal.
While Massachusetts is a nationwide leader on early education and child care and we’ve made important progress in recent years, the current system remains broken and access to quality early education and child care remains out of reach for too many families.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted just how critical early education and child care is for Massachusetts families, for children, for businesses, and for the entire Massachusetts economy. Without safe access to affordable, high-quality early education and child care, parents and other caregivers are either unable to work, or struggle to balance work with caring for their children. And our entire economy suffers as businesses struggle to reopen and recover because the workforce lacks early education and child care options, or because the productivity of their employees is compromised.
Failure to address the child care crisis now will take its toll on the next generation: when denied access to high-quality early education and child care, vulnerable children miss out on the learning environments, structure, and stability that help set them up for education success, optimal earnings, and long-term health and wellbeing. Ensuring that all children have access to high quality early education and care is how we prevent achievement gaps from widening and health disparities from worsening.
The new legislative push for state action on early education and child care is led by the Common Start Coalition, a statewide partnership of organizations, providers, parents, early educators and advocates. The coalition, established in 2018, includes more than 120 organizations across Massachusetts, and is coordinated by a steering committee made up of the Coalition for Social Justice, Greater Boston Legal Services, the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action (JALSA), the MA Association of Early Education and Care (MADCA), the Massachusetts Business Roundtable, the MA Commission on the Status of Women, Neighborhood Villages, Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts, SEIU Local 509, and Strategies for Children. The coalition has six regional chapters across the state that include local parents, early educators, providers, and other advocates.
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The Common Start Coalition is a statewide partnership of organizations, providers, parents, early educators and advocates working together to make high-quality early education and child care affordable and accessible to all Massachusetts families. Our goal is to ensure that all families have the care solutions they need and that all children in our Commonwealth have the same, strong start and enter school on a level playing field. We are a diverse coalition including community, faith-based, labor, business, and early education and child care organizations, as well as early educators, parents, individuals, and direct service organizations. More information about the coalition is available at commonstartma.org.