Massachusetts Governor’s Budget Sends Strong Signal of Support for Early Ed

Last week, Governor Maura Healey unveiled her Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 budget proposal, which includes major investments in the state’s early education and care sector – a hopeful sign of good things to come. The Governor’s budget, referred to as H.1, provides a historic investment of nearly $1.5 billion in funding for the early education and care sector.

Among other key investments – noted in more detail below – H.1 notably included $475 million for direct-to-provider operations grants – a critical, transformative investment in sustaining Massachusetts’ early education and care sector and charting a new path toward child care finance reform.

Here’s Why Operations Grants Matter 

Since their introduction in 2021, direct-to-provider operations grants have helped to expand access to care for families, to promote affordability, and to increase educator wages. Recently data on the grants program demonstrate that these funds continue to be a critical resource  for stabilizing the early education and care sector and preventing program closures. Indeed, if operations grants are not continued, more than 12% (751) of all early education and care providers in the Commonwealth report that they would have to close – 65% of which participate in the state’s child care subsidy program, which serves Massachusetts’ lowest-income families.

Governor Healey’s investment in operations grants complements the MA House of Representative’s commitment of $68 million for operations grants in its FY23 supplemental budget; these funds will ensure that there will be sufficient dollars to continue the operations grants program for the remainder of FY23. The MA Senate has also repeatedly demonstrated support for these essential investments in early education and care.

Additional Key Investments in Early Education and Care

In addition to funding for the operations grants, Governor Healey made some other notable investments in child care in her FY24 budget, including:

●      $774 million to provide child care financial assistance for low-income families, including families receiving services or supports from DTA and DCF. This is an additional $80 million, compared to FY 2023.

●      $30 million for the Commonwealth Partnership for Preschool Initiative, a doubling of the FY23 investment in CPPI, to support expansion of high-quality, publicly funded preschool access.

●      $25 million to expand the reach of child care financial assistance dedicated to reducing the existing wait list. The Administration estimates that these funds will expand access to 2,200 new families.

●      $10 million for professional development and career pathways initiatives for early educators, including higher-education pathways to attaining advanced credentials.

●      $20 million for a rate increase for both center-based and family child care providers serving children with EEC financial assistance.

●      $5 million for EEC for comprehensive strategic analysis and development of recommendations for streamlining and improving funding mechanisms for subsidized child care.

●      $5 million for early childhood mental health supports and services for children and early education professional, reflecting a $1.5M increase above FY23 funding.

●      $1 million for Neighborhood Villages to advance its work to improve family access to high-quality early education and care. 

Early Education is Public Education

Notably, Governor Healey’s budget allocates significant dollars from Massachusetts new education and transportation fund to early education and care. The money for this trust fund will be generated through the recently enacted Fair Share Amendment and, under law, must be dedicated to public education and transportation. Governor Healey’s dedication of roughly one-third of the education funds towards key early education and care initiatives is a clear – and laudable – stake in the ground that access to a high quality public education means access to high quality early education

We applaud the Healey Administration's efforts to pave the way for a healthier, more stable early education and care system. These investments, coupled with promising legislation on Beacon Hill, indicate that this could be a major turning point for child care in Massachusetts.

Right now, the need for reform is greater than ever. We must seize this opportunity to make child care more affordable, accessible and equitable for all children and families across the Commonwealth.