BOSTON — Fresh off of a win in the House and in the midst of a tight budget season, early education advocates are pressing for more state support that they say will further expand access to early care and pay the workers who are critical to the growing sector.
“We’re a little bit of a good news story here in Massachusetts right now,” Massachusetts Association of Early Education & Care Executive Director Bill Eddy told the News Service. “Now, is there enough early education? Absolutely not. Is it way over-expensive? Absolutely.”
Eddy and other early education advocates on Thursday celebrated a supplemental spending bill passed by the House on Wednesday night that includes $38.7 million to move people eligible for early education and care aid off of a waitlist. The amount includes $8 million for child care for providers and $7.5 million for a loan forgiveness program for providers, according House Speaker Ron Mariano’s office.
The funding will create nearly 2,500 early education and care spots, Education Committee Co-chair Rep. Ken Gordon said. Gordon joined Reps. Andy Vargas and Alice Peisch and Senate President Karen Spilka Thursday to tout state support for the sector and to say that Massachusetts is the only state that has continued to fund Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3) grants, which they said has stabilized programs across the state.
The progress is the result of “active conversations” happening “day in and day out” about how to support the sector, Vargas said.
“Every vehicle should be an opportunity for us to think about these questions from a workforce perspective, from an education perspective, from a social well being perspective, and economic perspective,” Vargas added.
There were 29,274 children on the Child Care Financial Assistance waitlist as of January, organizers said. Along with urging the Senate to sign off on the House surtax allocation, they’ve asked that the fiscal 2027 budget maintain level funding for C3 grants and raise the provider rate reserve to $30 million. That figure would reflect a 2.8% cost of living rate adjustment, the Massachusetts Association of Early Education and Care said.
The rate reserve pays provider workforce salaries and keeps programs open that serve low-income and at-risk children, according to the association. The bump would improve early education subsidy rates, which the group said remain 20-30% below private market rates.
“What you’re seeing today is asks for what we need now each year, as costs continue to increase, but really respecting and grateful for the investments that have already been made,” President and CEO of Nurtury Early Education, Laura Perille said.
“You cannot care for children if we don’t pay a living and thriving wage to our educators and teachers and staff,” Perille said. “I would say, particularly now, there are incredible pressures on child care, particularly for working families who lack access, and also particularly for vulnerable immigrant communities, which touch the lives of our families that we serve, our educators and providers and their families, as well.”
Gov. Maura Healey’s fiscal 2027 budget proposal includes more than $1.8 billion for the Department of Early Education and Care. Child care resource and referral networks are requesting a $2 million increase to a line item that addresses access management; they say it would help address an increase in caseloads that has occurred despite limited access to income eligible vouchers. From fiscal 2024 to fiscal 2026, caseloads increased by 13,598 children, representing a 28% increase in overall growth, per the network.
Citing “ongoing federal underfunding,” the Massachusetts Head Start Association is also requesting a 3% cost of living adjustment — a $4.56 million increase over fiscal 2026 budget funding — for Head Start staff via the state supplemental grant for the program. Massachusetts Head Start programs have eliminated 1,300 slots in the past three years to reallocate limited resources to attract and retain staff, according to the association.
“Early education has been treated very well up here,” Eddy said when asked about his outlook. “I’m confident that despite our lack of a federal partner, that the Commonwealth is in good footing on early education.
“It’s just the awareness by the leadership of both the House and Senate and the absolute commitment of the leaders of both branches to early education — I think backstops us a little bit,” he added. “We’re not immune to what will happen if we start doing cutbacks. But it’s not going to reverse the gains that we have made over the last decade here.”