Childcare workers, families and children rallied around Connecticut Wednesday to demand that lawmakers approve more funding to buoy the sector.
The first of ten “Morning Without Childcare” events was in downtown New Haven. The mood was cheery, yet serious, as childcare workers, kids, and families bypassed their normal mornings to come together and ask the state for more childcare investments.
Advocates called for more funds, both in the state budget, and long-term — including passage of a proposed bill that would invest millions into the sector.
“It’s not easy to be here and ask for help. We shouldn’t have to be here asking for help,” Rondraya Barron, a parent, and teacher at Friends Center for Children. “I’m living paycheck to paycheck anticipating the next pay day, and we need more money.”
Insufficient wages are part of the nationwide issue feeding into the childcare crisis, according to the American Center for Progress. And while many care centers have the physical capacity to support more children, data from the United Way of Connecticut shows there aren’t enough workers in the state to safely meet demand.
The proposal passed out of committee with bipartisan support, and awaits further legislative action.
A spokesperson for Governor Lamont said the administration is “strongly supportive of expanding Connecticut’s early childhood education system” and that the governor is encouraging the legislature to approve the $43.3 million increase for early childhood education outlined in this year’s budget proposal.
“We are concerned that as structured, this spending would be taken off budget, and not subjected to the scrutiny and review of the regular appropriations process, thereby circumventing the fiscal guardrails which were renewed by the legislature last year,” Beth Bye, commissioner of the Office of Early Childhood, wrote in public testimony.
Eva Bermúdez Zimmerman, coalition director for Childcare for Connecticut’s Future, said approval of the bill would be a step towards fully funding the childcare system.
“Childcare is in crisis. We need a long term plan, rather than floating around that money year after year after year,” Bermúdez Zimmerman said.
House Speaker Matt Ritter voiced support for the bill at a press conference held March 28. Ritter said that solving Connecticut’s childcare problems won’t happen “in one year or one session” but that bills like this help start those conversations.
Wednesday’s day of action wasn’t just in New Haven – rallies were heldin 10 different areas of Connecticut, with over a thousand people signed up to participate, organizers said.
“Us educators have to do it all. We are administrators, social workers, confidantes and we are some second parents to most children,” said Rondraya Barron with Friends Center for Children. “The investment we put into childcare as educators is priceless.”
This story was first published April 10, 2024 by Connecticut Public.