Ortega’s departure will further shift the state’s education leadership, following turnover within the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler stepping down earlier this year.
Child Care
Posted inEducation
Pilot opens expansion opportunity for some family child care providers
The pilot will include about 25 to 30 programs, as EEC collects data and feedback from educators and families. EEC will use those findings to help guide future decisions about family child care capacity, staffing ratios and licensing structures.
Posted inOpinion
Family, friend, and neighbor child care providers are essential for families and the economy. State policy should treat them that way.
FFN caregivers are the reason parents can get to work, keep their jobs, and provide for their families. Yet for years, policies shaping Massachusetts’s childcare system have failed to reflect that reality.
Posted inChild Care
Surtax fueling early ed expansion, but will it last?
The money expanding child care access this year comes from one-time surplus funds. Maintaining long-term funding will mean finding a permanent home for it in next year’s state budget.
Posted inPolitics
Political Notebook: Data centers get their tax breaks, taxpayer group side-eyes ballot measures
State officials had been working on crafting the tax exemption since the Legislature required it in the 2024 economic development measure that Gov. Maura Healey signed. But 18 months after that law was signed, the tax break comes at a fraught time for the artificial intelligence industry.
Posted inThe Download
The Download: Worcester pilot program provides early childhood educators with rent-free space to start their businesses
New from CommonWealth Beacon LEGISLATIVE AUDIT: Following months of an increasingly bitter feud with Diana DiZoglio, Attorney General Andrea Campbell used a live radio interview to signal a new willingness […]
Posted inEducation
Worcester pilot program provides early childhood educators with rent-free space to start their businesses
The Family Childcare Success Project, formed in partnership by the Guild of St. Agnes and the Seven Hills Foundation, launched a new family child care incubator — only the third of its kind in the nation — meant to provide more child care slots while making it easier for early educators to get their start.
Posted inThe Codcast
How ‘universal’ is universal pre-K?
This week on The Codcast, we dive into Gov. Maura Healey’s “Gateway to Pre-K” agenda. By the end of 2026, her administration declared that every family of a 4-year-old in the state’s 26 Gateway Cities would have the opportunity – at low or no cost – to enroll their child in a preschool program that prepares them for kindergarten. But local providers say they won’t get there.
Posted inThe Download
The Download: Healey has called for universal pre-K in every Gateway City by the year’s end. Providers say they won’t get there.
New from CommonWealth Beacon CROSS-BORDER CRITIQUES: From taxes to ICE detention, Govs. Maura Healey and Kelly Ayotte are trading cross-border barbs and turning each other into convenient political foils in […]
Posted inEducation
Healey has called for universal pre-K in every Gateway City by the year’s end. Providers say they won’t get there.
Seven of the 26 cities are not currently participating in the state’s pre-K implementation program. Child care providers in cities that are participating say that while it enforces a mixed-delivery approach highly valued by preschool advocates, universal access for every 4-year-old by the end of the year is a pipe dream.
Posted inThe Download
The Download: Report highlights persistent challenges in early child care workforce
New from CommonWealth Beacon FUNDING INJECTION: A new legislative accord will direct $234 million to hospitals and community health centers in Massachusetts as part of an upcoming spending bill vote, […]
Posted inEducation
Report highlights persistent challenges in early child care workforce
Despite “fragile progress,” the Commonwealth’s early child care system continues to suffer from a workforce problem, according to a new analysis published by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. The report makes several policy recommendations and highlights that the state is losing out on billions in tax revenue.
Posted inThe Saturday Send
The crisis of child care deserts and four more stories.
This week, Jennifer Smith delves into the data on child care deserts, where for every three children there is only one child care slot.
Plus: Gateway Cities in Western Massachusetts struggle to restore blighted buildings, Josh Kraft looks to recharge his struggling mayoral campaign, our reporters break down Trump’s spending and tax bill, and a look back at a 2002 article on ballot initiatives.
Posted inThe Download
The Download: 70 percent of Mass. infants live in child care deserts
New from CommonWealth Beacon BALLOT WIND-UP: Two ballot measures, which advance competing ideas for easing the strain of the costly Massachusetts housing markets, may come before voters in 2026. Michael […]
Posted inEducation
70 percent of Mass. infants live in child care deserts, according to state data
Enrollment differences between regions, student age groups, and income levels paint a picture of a system struggling to meet potential demand and that is most available to those at the highest income brackets.
Posted inEducation
Early child care system has a workforce problem
MASSACHUSETTS’ CHILD CARE system serving the state’s most vulnerable children has seen improvement in recent years, but a new report warns that issues with recruiting and keeping workers could undermine […]
Posted inOpinion
Mass. takes major step toward child care reform
With the funding and other provisions included in the 2025 state budget Gov. Maura Healey signed last week, Massachusetts is poised to become a national leader when it comes to child care reform.
Posted inPolitics
Bill to allow campaign funds for childcare on the move
While everything from pricey steakhouse dinners to travel to far-off conferences can be paid with campaign funds under the broad definition of allowable spending that furthers a candidate’s political career, childcare falls outside that interpretation.
Posted inState Government
Healey pushes $93m boost in new child care spending
Healey plans to pursue about $93 million in new child care spending in her fiscal year 2025 budget proposal, which will also request another $475 million in grants to continue supporting early education providers.
Posted inState Government
We’re increasing access to child care for low-income Massachusetts families
The state and federal government have launched initiatives that will significantly improve child care financial assistance for low-income Massachusetts families.
Posted inEducation
Licensing of new childcare providers on hold
NICOLE MCCORMACK, a hairstylist from Haverhilll, always dreamed of opening a home daycare. So with her youngest son entering kindergarten, she started applying for a license in March. Five months […]
