TO: Nonie K. Lesaux, Ph.D., Chair of the Board of Early Education and Care
FROM: CEO Action for Racial Equity
DATE: December 13, 2022
RE: Comments for December 13, 2022 Meeting of the Board of Early Education and Care

Thank you for your work and your dedication to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (“Commonwealth”). CEO Action for Racial Equity (“CEOARE”) is a Fellowship of over 100 companies that mobilizes a community of business leaders with diverse expertise across multiple industries and geographies to advance public policy in four key areas — healthcare, education, economic empowerment and public safety. Its mission is to identify, develop and promote scalable and sustainable public policies and corporate engagement strategies that will address systemic racism, social injustice and improve societal well-being. CEOARE is focused on eight policy solution areas that disproportionately and systematically impact Black Americans from cities to rural communities, offices to schools, and healthcare networks to criminal justice systems. Equity in early childhood education is one of CEOARE’s eight policy areas.

We applaud the Commonwealth’s legislative and executive branches for approving the Economic Development Bill, H.5374,¹ for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023, which provides an additional $150 million in funding for early child care and early education programs. This supplemental bill, together with the approved budget for FY 2023, provides significant funding for early child care and early education programs, and highlights the Commonwealth’s dedication and commitment to investing in education and care services for the most vulnerable families, promoting growth and opportunity, and supporting the Commonwealth’s diverse communities.

As you begin allocating and overseeing the funds from the Economic Development Bill, H.5374, we write to express our support for the vital work undertaken by the Department of Early Education and Care (“EEC”). We would also like to share our views on crucial areas in the bill with a spending plan and methodology due by January 1, 2023. More specifically, we would like to propose measures that can help enhance societal racial equity in Massachusetts (“MA”) and help to remove the obstacles that impact Black residents within the Commonwealth’s community.

These appropriations in H.5374 complement our policy areas of focus to advance racial equity.

Section 2

EXECUTIVE OFFICE FOR ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE: Reserves

• Scholarships for Students Pursuing Early Childhood Education (Line item 1599 – 6087)
  CEOARE applauds the appropriation of a $50 million reserve to support scholarships for Massachusetts students enrolled in and pursuing a higher education program in a high-demand field such as early childhood education and to support students in “traditionally underserved student populations.” We recommend the Department of Higher Education (“DHE”) prioritize allocating scholarship funds to students enrolled in the early education field, as data suggests the field needs help to replace 13% of the staff necessary to serve early child care programs’ total capacity, which has been grossly impacted by the pandemic.² Further, we respectfully request that DHE give preference to those in or planning to serve the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable families in underserved geographies and areas traditionally receiving substantial amounts of subsidies from the Commonwealth.
• Grants to Providers (Line item 3000-1047)
  We commend the funding of an additional $60 million in the Commonwealth Cares for Children (“C3”) Grants made available to providers serving subsidized children and for funding loan forgiveness. The equity adjustment in the grants’ funding formula allows the Commonwealth to address disparities in access to affordable and quality early education and care by allocating additional funding to providers in areas serving large numbers of low-income children and the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable families. We respectfully request that EEC take steps to confirm that the grant application process utilizes the existing efficient C3 grant process.
• Data Collection (Line item 3000-1047)
  The Economic Development Bill, H.5374, requires EEC to submit quarterly reports on the distribution of funds. As a part of this reporting requirement, CEOARE recommends that EEC identify a mechanism to collect race as part of the “demographic data of families served” in order to adequately assess the impact of the funds within communities. Reporting race as part of this demographic data can help EEC better understand if the funds allocated are reaching those in the Commonwealth who most need accessible and quality childcare and early education programs to support long-term academic success.
• Formula Used for Distribution of Funds to Providers (Line item 3000-1047)
  The Economic Development Bill, H.5374, requires a description of the formula used to allocate funding to providers and an analysis of the incorporation of equity in the formula. The equity adjustment embedded in the formula used to distribute the grants may enable the Commonwealth to address disparities in access to affordable, high-quality early education and care by allocating additional funding for programs located in low-income communities and providing services to the most vulnerable families in the Commonwealth’s underserved geographies. We recommend that the equity adjustment in the formula incorporates metrics commonly used by EEC to measure racial equity, such as the percentage of subsidized children and the social vulnerability index of the community served. This focused investment aligns with CEOARE’s policy objective of advancing equity in early childhood education.

CEOARE is non-partisan and is committed to working with policymakers to enact policies that bring equity, transparency, and accountability to our communities. As the Board of Early Education and Care works to disburse and oversee the funds allocated in the Economic Development Bill, H.5374, we respectfully urge you to consider the recommendations outlined in this letter to be included in EEC’s spending plan due January 1, 2023. We believe incorporating these recommendations will support a more equitable Massachusetts and advance equity in early education and care throughout the Commonwealth.

We welcome the opportunity to discuss these requests.

Thank you for your work and leadership.

Sincerely,
CEO Action for Racial Equity

–

CC:
The Honorable Jason M. Lewis, Senate Chair, Joint Committee on Education
The Honorable Alice Hanlon Peisch, House Chair, Joint Committee on Education
Mr. James Peyser, Secretary of Education
Ms. Amy Kershaw, Acting Commissioner of the Department of Early Education and Care

Citations

¹ Bill H.5374. An Act relating to economic growth and relief for the Commonwealth: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/H5374.

² “Child Care Sector Jobs,” Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, November 7, 2022, https://cscce.berkeley.edu/publications/brief/child-care-sector-jobs-bls-analysis/.