City Council resolution supports Common Start legislation

For years, Massachusetts has been a center for quality elementary and high school education, but many families are suffering due to a lack of affordable, high-quality early education and child care.

During this week’s Council meeting, the Council adopted a resolution in support of the Common Start legislation, Bill HD.1960 and SD. 1307. The Common Start legislation would provide a framework to increase public investment in early education and childcare and significantly increase the affordability and quality of early education and child care.

If this legislation is passed, lower-income families would have access to high-quality care free of cost, children will experience increased education attainment and longer-term health benefits, including improvements to brain development.

Additionally, providers will have an increase in public investments to help meet the true cost of providing high-quality care, educator’s salaries will increase, and businesses will have critical support added to the labor pool benefiting recruitment, retention, and productivity.

The resolution offered by Councilor Essaibi-George, the Chair of the Committee on Education, states that COVID-19 has exposed deficiencies in our educational system, especially the early-education system, and this bill would be the beginning of addressing those concerns.