CT will prioritize early childhood education in the 2025 legislative session

Last December, an expert panel created one five-year plan to overhaul Connecticut’s early childhood education system — and now, almost a year later, despite challenges with financingAs the 2025 legislative session approaches, stakeholders are re-emphasizing their commitment to making child care more accessible.

In a panel hosted Tuesday morning by the Office of Early Childhood, state commissioners, national experts and lawmakers gathered to emphasize the importance of a family-centered model that, in addition to providing care and education for children, also focuses on developing the workforce for both parents and educators. .

“I want this to be the most family-friendly state in the country,” Gov. Ned Lamont said Tuesday.

In March 2023, Lamont founded the “Blue ribbon panel”, a group of public and private sector leaders, early childhood experts, educators and parents, charged with designing a strategic plan for the state’s child care system.

The group proposed a five-year reform that would cost more than $2 billion to implement and would include higher wages, simplified qualifications and expanded benefits for teachers; more parent subsidies and flexible childcare schedules; grants to help stabilize providers; thousands of new childcare places; and numerous technical system improvements, among others.

The plan Dozens of “key action steps” will be implemented over the next five years, starting with workforce development, teacher benefits and compensation, and improvements to system infrastructure in the first three years. That will be followed by greater affordability and access for families in years 2 to 5.

“The plan set an ambitious goal for Connecticut, so we need to get there. We’re proud of the plan and we’re proud of our progress, but guess what? We’re not done yet. We still have very important work to do,” said Early Childhood Commissioner Beth Bye.

“We need to improve access. We need to let families know what we are doing so they know where they can access services. We can build the best system, but if they don’t know it, … (then) we’re not helping their kids, and we’re not helping them succeed,” Bye added. “We need to put equality first, and we’ve heard that time and time again. We need to simplify the system, and…we need to recognize the life-changing work that our early childhood professionals do every day. We need to recognize that with improved wages, working conditions and support.”

Early Childhood Commissioner Beth Bye spoke about the importance of expanding early childhood care and the benefits it has for the Connecticut economy.

At the start of this legislative session, education groups, including those advocating for early childhood care, K-12 education and higher education, saw a collision for financial resources. Lawmakers initially included $150 million for K-12 education reforms in the preliminary $26 billion budget passed for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, but Lamont wanted to cut that to $111 million by cutting increases for magnet, charter and vocational agriculture and science. schools – and then redirect some of the funds to help accelerate the growth of child care financing.

It didn’t go far, drawing outrage from several education stakeholders, including Education Committee co-chair Jeff Currey, who said in February that the measure seemed like the various education systems “pitted against each other.”

Instead, lawmakers have one $370 million budget stabilization plan thereby avoiding an adjustment to the provisional budget of $26 billion adopted in June 2023 for the period 2024-2025. The bill included $18.8 million for the CT Care 4 Kids program, a partnership between the state and several child care services. It also included $8.2 million for other child care and early childhood development programs.

But despite these challenges, Bye redoubled the state’s commitment to better fund the early childhood care system.

“I have been an early childhood advocate since the Valuable bets …and I can assure you that no governor, no administration, has led on these issues like Governor Lamont,” Bye said. “His presence today is a sign of commitment.”

During Tuesday’s panel, Bye, Lamont and other stakeholders heard from national experts who offered their opinions on Connecticut’s plan, many of whom praised the state’s efforts.

“When I looked through your plan and saw that you were looking at ways that you can provide more affordable housing for some of your families, you look at the entire ecosystem and recognize that education is just one piece,” said Barbara Cooper, the senior vice president of professional learning at Start earlya non-profit charity for young children. “If you really look at it through an equity lens, you’re looking at that whole child, you’re looking at that whole family… Not only are we going to get high-quality early education, but we also want to make sure that families get the jobs that they need and that they have the housing they need. With such a comprehensive approach you ultimately build the state you want for the future.”

Among those speaking alongside Cooper was Ellen Galinsky, the president of the Institute for Family and Worka national nonprofit research organization focused on family life and child development, and Michelle Kang, the CEO of National Association for the Education of Young Children.

“I think starting with babies and toddlers is something you’ve done well. I think having a blended delivery system is something you’ve done well. I think paying attention to workforce and equity at the center is something you’ve done well. … I think there’s a real focus on creating a simpler system that I really think is great,” Galinsky said, also citing areas for improvement.

“The one thing I think I would argue for more attention to is an emphasis on child-to-child development, paying attention to what we know about how relationships matter most to children, but also to what goes on with the children in those relationships happen. What do they learn? What is learning as a child? Not just numbers and letters and colors, but what are the competencies? What are their feelings about themselves?”

The panelists also emphasized the importance of the environment and ensuring that the psychological needs of both children and educators were met.

For children, this means access to spaces where they can develop important relationships and feel like they belong. For teachers, that seems like a better reward for recruiting and retaining them in the field.