Will Massachusetts Lead on Child Care and Early Education? – Fenway News
By Jonathan Cohn
In Massachusetts, we like to pride ourselves on our history of Number Ones and firsts. But here’s one statistic we shouldn’t be proud of: according to the Economic Policy Institute, we have the highest childcare costs of any state in the country…
Governor Maura Healey has spoken about the need to address the high cost of living in Massachusetts, and if she wants to take this problem head on, fixing our childcare system will be essential.
The Boston Ward 4 Democratic Committee is a proud endorser of the Common Start legislative framework, which offers such a model. The coalition has brought together parents, early educators, care providers, and community stakeholders to develop a vision for what sustainable and affordable childcare infrastructure would look like.
The framework, reflected in two bills filed on Beacon Hill, would help stabilize childcare providers to ensure high-quality care, creating incentives for greater pay for early educators and greater accessibility of care for families. It would also greatly increase financial assistance, especially for the low- and middle-income families that need it most, so that families aren’t burdened by the cost of care.