Massachusetts needs a robust child-care system – Boston Globe
By Karen Spilka and Lauren Birchfield Kennedy
Working parents, imagine that you’re waiting to hear if your fourth grader will be going to school next fall. She’s been on a waitlist for 14 months. You hope to hear soon, because you’ll need to delay your career to stay home with her if she doesn’t get a spot.
This scenario is basically unthinkable for students in K-12 education, but it plays out far too often for parents of infants and toddlers seeking child care in Massachusetts. This happens even though research has shown that quality early education and care in the first five years of life greatly increases the chances of a student’s success later in life — and despite the reality that parents and caregivers often choose to — or need to — work after welcoming a child to the family.
It’s well past time to argue the merits and necessity of a robust early education and care infrastructure in Massachusetts and get to work on implementing a solution. That’s why this week the Senate is taking up the EARLY ED Act, comprehensive early education and care reform that will help teach our youngest learners and stabilize this crucial sector of our economy.