March 3, 2023

To the Honorable Members of the Massachusetts Legislature:

CEO Action for Racial Equity (CEOARE) applauds the commitment by leaders of both chambers, including Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano, to make expanding access to affordable early education and childcare a top priority for the 2023-2024 legislative session.

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 — education, healthcare, economic empowerment, and public safety. More than 20 companies that are either headquartered in or have significant presence in Massachusetts are part of the Fellowship and collectively employ tens of thousands of people in the Commonwealth. For the full list of our signatory companies, please refer to our website: https://ceoactionracialequity.com/our-story/. Our 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.

The need for improvements to the early education and childcare system in Massachusetts is clear – many parents cannot afford the high cost of care, many providers have closed their doors, educators have left the field due to low wages, and businesses are suffering due to their employees’ struggles with finding high-quality and affordable childcare.

CEOARE is a member of the Common Start Coalition and is focused on those elements of the Early Education & Care (EEC) legislation that align with our mission.  “An Act providing affordable and accessible high quality early education and care to promote child development and well-being and support the economy in the Commonwealth” (Senate Docket 667, filed by Senator Jason Lewis, and House Docket 2794, filed by Representatives Adrian Madaro and Kenneth Gordon) would not only improve access to affordable and high-quality early education and childcare, but both versions also incorporate the following elements to advance racial equity:

1. Expand operational grant funding and fairness, which received support by policymakers in the 2021-2022 legislative session (Section 19, part (b) of SD.667 and 2794);
2. Broaden early education & care student loan forgiveness eligibility, which also received support by policymakers in the 2021-2022 legislative session (Section 20, part (h) of SD.667 and HD.2794);
3. Enhance data collection on early education and care spending, including child-level data (Section 4 of SD.667 and HD.2794); and
4. Provide cultural competency and implicit bias training for providers (Section 5 of SD.667 and HD.2794).

CEOARE is non-partisan and is committed to working with policymakers to enact policies that bring equity, transparency, and accountability to our communities. Massachusetts needs the certainty of a permanent state program to support families, incentivize early educators to join and remain in the field, support providers who wish to expand or open new programs to expand the supply of care, and provide certainty to workers and their employers that critical childcare arrangements will be accessible and affordable. As the legislature works to pass comprehensive early education and childcare legislation, we encourage you to cosponsor SD.667 and HD.2794 and recognize the importance of advancing racial equity in this area by making sure the above outlined sections remain part of any final legislation. We believe incorporating these recommendations will advance equity in early education and care throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

We welcome the opportunity to discuss these recommendations.

Thank you for your work and leadership.

Sincerely,

CEO Action for Racial Equity