麻州長 Healey 將撥款資助門戶城市享有高品質學前教育

Governor Healey Announces Universal, High-Quality Pre-K Access for Gateway Cities 

 

“Gateway to Pre-K" agenda will also increase child care financial assistance to thousands of families and sustain historic C3 funding for providers 

 

Governor signs Executive Order directing whole-of-government approach to child care and pledging partnership with business community on solutions 

 

MALDEN – Governor Maura Healey today laid out her administration’s agenda to make early education and child care more affordable and accessible for all families across Massachusetts. The Governor will highlight these programs in her State of the Commonwealth address tomorrow and propose the funding in her Fiscal Year 2025 budget next week. 

 

The “Gateway to Pre-K” agenda includes four key components: 

 

· Delivering universal, high-quality preschool access for four-year-olds in all Gateway Cities by the end of 2026. Every family of a 4-year-old in these 26 communities will have the opportunity – at a low or no cost -- to enroll their child in a high-quality preschool program that prepares them for kindergarten. 

· Increasing Child Fare Financial Assistance (CCFA) eligibility from 50 percent of the state median income (SMI) to 85 percent SMI to help an additional 4,000 low-and moderate-income families afford care.  

· Continuing Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3) grants in FY25, providing stable funding for programs to improve quality, pay facility costs, and hire more staff, thereby creating more classrooms where families can enroll their children in affordable child care.  

· Signing an executive order to recognize the essential role child care plays in driving the state’s economy and competitiveness forward and directing the Healey-Driscoll administration to take a whole-of-government approach to ensuring affordable, high-quality child care. 

 

“Our ‘Gateway to Pre-K' agenda will fundamentally transform the early education system in Massachusetts. We’re lowering costs for families to enroll their children in child care and Pre-K and ensuring our hardworking providers have the support they need to deliver high-quality care,” said Governor Maura Healey. “Far too many parents are being held back from returning to the workforce because of the daunting cost of child care, and providers are facing the difficult decision between continuing in the profession they love or leaving for a higher-paid career. Our budget proposal will help to relieve those pressures by expanding high-quality Pre-K access, delivering more financial assistance to thousands more families, and sustaining our historic investments in C3 grants to providers.” 

 

“As Governor Healey and I travel around the state, we hear about the high cost of child care and the impact that is having on families and business. We have made many positive strides in year one, and we are taking even bigger and bolder action in the next few years so that regardless of zip code or economic background, our youngest learners can access the high-quality education they need to succeed in school and beyond, while also supporting our local economy and communities,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll.  

 

“Governor Healey gets it: child care is the key to unlocking Massachusetts’ economic potential,” said Democratic Whip Katherine Clark. "Federal pandemic relief funding proved that with public investment and a commitment to working families, we can expand access to care, cut costs for parents, and enable businesses to thrive. I am grateful to Governor Healey for taking on this urgent challenge and for being my partner in the fight for affordable, accessible care. As Massachusetts takes this step forward, I will continue pushing in Washington for the resources and solutions we need to ensure our early education and care system truly works for working families.” 

 
 

The Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) currently administers the Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative (CPPI), which establishes a district–wide preschool program across classes in public and community-based early education and care programs. As a result, every 4-year-old receives equitable access to high quality preschool, while ensuring families have multiple provider options to choose from. This levels the playing field for kindergarten readiness across the district, establishing coordinated curriculum and similar goals regardless of where a child is enrolled. CPPI funding also provides scholarships to participating families to enroll at no or low cost and enables full day/full year services through the mix of public and community classrooms. Further, CPPI promotes equitable access to special education to ensure full inclusion of children with disabilities through the least restrictive settings.  

 

CPPI is currently in 12 Gateway Cities (Brockton, Fall River, Haverhill, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, Malden, New Bedford, Salem, Springfield and Westfield). Through investments in the FY25 budget, the administration is proposing to expand CPPI into the 14 remaining Gateway Cities over the next two years. 

 

Governor Healey announced her Gateway to Pre-K agenda in Malden, an example of a Gateway City that has benefited from CPPI, providing access to high quality preschool through multiple partners: Malden Public Schools, Malden Early Education and Learning Program, Cheverus Catholic School, Little Love Bugs Daycare, My Best Friends Child Care, and Malden YMCA. Through CPPI, Malden has standardized the use of a high-quality preschool curriculum that integrates evidence-based practices in early literacy, as well as coordinates and intentionally aligns policies, assessments, and professional development. Although the CPPI program is relatively new, Malden leaders have already noticed the significant impact. 

 

"CPPI has made a meaningful difference in our district - developing partnerships between school districts and local early education programs provides an equal playing field so that every preschooler in our community is on the same plan and has access to the same resources and materials. I am excited to see this program expand into more programs and communities, and I want to thank Governor Healey and the Administration for making this important announcement in our community,” said Malden Mayor Gary Christenson. 

 

“We all in Malden Public Schools love this program because we see it is going to have a big trajectory, big picture for students from prekindergarten to grade 12 to be ready for what every they want to do in life. It also allows our teachers and the community-based teachers to share in best practices and professional development, furthering their impact and sense of community,” said Malden Public Schools Superintendent Ligia Noriega-Murphy. 

 

Massachusetts’ child care financial assistance programs help families pay for early education and care programs by covering all or a percentage of the cost of care based on their income. Current initial eligibility is at or below 50 percent SMI, meaning families earning less than $49,467 annually for a family of two and $61,106 for a family of three. Federal rules allow states to go up to 85 percent SMI. By increasing eligibility to 85 percent SMI, more low-and moderate-income families, including staff working in education and care programs, get help paying for care. That means families earning less than annually $84,094 for a family of two and $103,880 for a family of three will now be eligible for help paying for care. 

 

C3 has been a game changer for child care programs and families, helping to not only keep over 7,000 programs open, but also supporting over 42,000 educators. C3 enables programs to better recruit and retain their staff, increase compensation, and invest in high-quality initiatives so that costs aren’t passed onto parents. The C3 program was initially supported primarily by federal dollars, but as those funds were set to expire, Governor Healey last year proposed continuing the funding with 100 percent state dollars for the first time. This proposal was supported by the Legislature and signed into law by Governor Healey. The investment helped to stabilize the early education system and contributed to 7 percent increase in the number of child care programs, adding more than 10,600 child care slots across the state. Continuing C3 will enable programs to remain open and continue supporting system-wide growth through investments in workforce, quality, and affordability. 

 

“Within my first week in this administration, Governor Healey and Lt. Governor Driscoll let me know that they were looking for a solution for the challenges facing our child care system. Our bold new early education agenda goes further than providing a solution, it spells out our plan for fundamental transformation,” said Secretary of Education Dr. Patrick Tutwiler. “We know that child care and preschool are critical for the success of our early learners, and provide an essential backbone to our economy by supporting working parents. Our ‘Gateway to Pre-K' approach is more of an educational prerogative—it’s an economic imperative.”  

 

“Early education is foundational to closing the opportunity gap in Massachusetts - bringing economic equity and mobility to families as well as educational opportunities to their children. Access to affordable child care is also an engine of the state’s economy, enabling families of all income levels to participate in our workforce,” said Early Education and Care Commissioner Amy Kershaw. “I am grateful to Governor Healey and Lt. Governor Driscoll for these bold actions and look forward to working in partnership with the Legislature and our diverse network of early education programs, educators, families, and business leaders to move these efforts forward to build an affordable, equitable, and high-quality early education system for all Massachusetts families.”  

 

Governor Healey also signed an Executive Order directing her administration to take a whole of government approach to child care, which impacts all aspects of life in Massachusetts. It will bring together teams from housing, child care, education, economic development, workforce development, health care and human services to work in partnership with the business community to develop new, and innovative strategies to expand access, build new facilities and reduce costs for families. State agencies will pay particular attention to the need for workforce training and apprenticeships, and will review employer tax credits or other incentives for offering or assisting with employee child care.  

 

“Child care solutions are a critical enabler for economic growth in Massachusetts,” said Secretary of Economic Development Yvonne Hao. “The Gateway to Pre-K initiative will empower members of our workforce and businesses across the state and make Massachusetts more competitive, affordable, and equitable.” 

 

“Accessible, affordable, and quality child care is a critical infrastructure for Massachusetts workers and families,” said Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Lauren Jones. “As an economic imperative, I look forward to working collaboratively with government, business, and community partners to build a strong pipeline of early childhood educators, and strengthen child care as a valuable support for attracting and retaining workers representing businesses and industries statewide.” 

 

This multi-pronged new child care initiative builds on the significant progress that was made during the Healey-Driscoll administration’s first year in office, including the hallmark budget proposal to invest an historic $475 million in state dollars to continue C3 grants when federal funds were sunsetting and reforming the state’s child care financial assistance programs to make them simpler, easier, and to lower costs for families. These new transformative initiatives also build on the administration’s significant provider rate increases and changes approved just last week. 

 

Read today’s executive order.