Mass. advocates launch ambitious campaign for publicly funded early education - Boston Globe
By Stephanie Ebbert
Massachusetts lawmakers and advocates plan to unveil a first-in-the-nation campaign to create a universal early education system that would receive public funding like K-12 schools and rein in the exorbitant costs of child care for all families.
Under the ambitious legislation being filed today child care would be free for the lowest-income families and provided on a sliding-fee basis for middle-income earners. No family would spend more than 7 percent of household income on child care, regardless of the number of children. Preschool teachers and infant educators who are now often paid poverty wages would earn salaries on par with public school teachers.
“Back in the 1800s, Massachusetts pioneered what was at the time a revolutionary idea— that K-12 education should be a public good, that education should be accessible to all children and families,” said state Senator Jason Lewis, a Winchester Democrat and lead sponsor of the bill. “It’s time now for Massachusetts to once again lead our nation by establishing that high-quality early education and child care should be viewed the same way — as a public good.”