- The Massachusetts Senate unanimously approved a bill aimed at improving the accessibility and affordability of early education and child care.
- The bill expands state subsidies to help families afford child care and makes existing subsidies to providers permanent.
- Senate President Karen Spilka highlighted the need for affordable child care, comparing its cost to sending a child to college.
The Massachusetts Senate on Thursday unanimously approved a bill that supporters say would help make early education and child care more accessible and affordable at a time when the cost of care is a financial barrier for families across the state.
The bill would increase state subsidies to help families pay for child care. It would also provide permanent grants that currently provide monthly payments directly to early education and child care providers.
These grants – which help support more than 90% of the state's early education and child care programs – have been credited with helping many programs keep their doors open during the pandemic, reducing costs tuition, increase pay for early childhood educators and increase the number of child care slots across the state, supporters of the bill said.
Massachusetts beach town struggles after storm washes away $600,000 worth of protective sand
“Child care in Massachusetts is among the most expensive. It's the equivalent of sending a child to college,” Democratic Senate President Karen Spilka said at a rally outside the Statehouse before the session of the Senate. “We need to make child care and early education more affordable and accessible.”
Alejandra De La Cruz, teacher at Ellis Early Learning, speaks at a rally March 14, 2024 in front of the Statehouse in Boston. The Massachusetts Senate on Thursday unanimously approved a bill that supporters say would help make early education and child care more accessible and affordable at a time when the cost of care is a financial barrier for families across the state. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
The bill would help raise wages and create career ladders so young educators can make their work a long-term career, while also stabilizing early education programs, Spilka said.
Alejandra De La Cruz, 34, a toddler teacher at Ellis Early Learning in Boston's South End neighborhood, said she loves her job. But she said the center struggled to keep classrooms open because it was difficult to fill vacant teaching positions.
“I can't blame them for leaving. They deserve to make a decent living,” said De La Cruz, who has worked at the center for three years.
“I look forward to the time when my salary will meet my family's basic needs, including living much closer to where I work, buying healthier groceries, and maybe even treating my family to dinner at the restaurant from time to time,” she added.
The proposal would also expand eligibility for child care subsidies to families making up to 85% of the state median income, or $124,000 for a family of four. It would eliminate cost-sharing fees for families below the federal poverty line and cap fees for all other families receiving subsidies at 7 percent of their income.
Under the plan, the grant program for families making up to 125 percent of the state median income — $182,000 for a family of four — would be expanded when future funds become available.
Massachusetts closes community center to public to shelter migrants, sparking backlash
Spilka said the bill is another step in fulfilling the House's commitment to providing high-quality educational opportunities for the state's children from birth to adulthood.
The bill would create a pilot matching grant program designed to incentivize employers to invest in new early childhood education niches, with priority given to projects serving low-income families and those located in what are calls childcare deserts.
The bill would also require the cost-sharing fee schedule for families participating in the child care subsidy program to be updated every five years, establish a pilot program to support small education programs and childcare and increases the maximum number of children that can be admitted. served by large family child care programs, similar to programs in New York, California, Illinois and Maryland.
The bill now heads to the Massachusetts House.