This commentary is by Emilie Tenenbaum, the executive director of Let’s Grow Kids Action Network, and Sharron Harrington, the executive director of the Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children.
Across political lines and communities, most Vermonters agree that young families should be able to afford to live and work here.
The good news is that the long-term investments in child care arising from Act 76 (Vermont’s landmark child care law passed in 2023) are moving us toward this shared vision.
Early childhood connects to many of Vermont’s biggest policy challenges, from affordability to school readiness. We know that investing in quality child care leads to better results down the road, including improved health outcomes and higher graduation and employment rates.
Since 2023, Vermont’s bold investments in child care access and affordability have begun to reshape what’s possible.
In the last two years, more than 5,000 additional children and their families have accessed tuition assistance to help pay for quality child care. Over 100 new child care programs have opened, creating 1,700 new spaces for children and 400 new early childhood educator jobs.
Parents tell us these changes have helped them afford to stay in Vermont, participate in the workforce, and start or grow their families. Investing in child care delivers results that every Vermont policymaker wants to see and that Vermonters deserve.
It’s essential that lawmakers stay committed to investments proven to work. To put it bluntly: while our momentum is real, continued progress is not guaranteed unless our state remains committed to child care.
That’s why we are focused this year on the following policy priorities: protecting the child care funding driving Vermont’s success; strengthening our early childhood educator workforce; increasing child care access and affordability; and fixing delays in fingerprinting and background checks, which are critical for safety and staffing.
Together, our organizations represent more than a decade of statewide coalition building. Our recommendations come from ongoing engagement with families, early childhood educators, employers and partners.
First and foremost, we must protect the funding driving these systems-level improvements. Act 76 created more than $100 million in long-term public investment, which was supported by Vermont businesses and citizens because they recognize that affordable, quality child care is one of the smartest investments we can make as a state.
The numbers show it’s paying off. As lawmakers craft the budget for fiscal year 2027, funding for child care must not be diverted.
The continued success of our child care commitment depends on strengthening and growing our early childhood educator workforce. Children have better outcomes in school and beyond when their earliest experiences are supported by a qualified early childhood educator.
Expanding access for children only happens when there are enough qualified early childhood educators to care for them. The best way to do this is to establish professional recognition for early childhood educators.
The Early Childhood Educator Profession Bill (introduced as S.206) creates professional recognition for more than 6,500 educators working in child care programs outside our public schools.
It is workforce-informed, workforce-strengthening legislation that addresses regulatory gaps and creates a transparent, supportive system for parents, educators, hiring programs and the public. It connects educators’ accountability and compensation to their qualifications — just like any other profession.
It professionalizes a workforce without which our state cannot function, and it does so while supporting, rather than displacing, the talented educators already doing the work.
As we work toward accessible, affordable, quality child care for every family that needs it, we’ll continue to advocate for improvements. For some families earning more than the tuition assistance threshold, affordable child care still remains out of reach.
Meanwhile, measures improving child care quality are clearly working. Programs helping early childhood educators earn credentials and degrees are extremely popular; training, coaching, and targeted supports are improving child care quality statewide.
Lawmakers must continue to increase access, lower costs, improve quality, and expand programs that help recruit and retain educators — especially in rural regions and for families with unique needs, like nonstandard work hours.
They also need to fix Vermont’s fingerprint and background check delays. Child safety depends on efficient, thorough criminal background checks for anyone working in child care. The current lengthy delays worsen staffing shortages across child care and afterschool programs.
Vermont’s commitment to child care is a source of statewide pride. We must protect and strengthen that commitment: keep growing child care programs, keep strengthening our early childhood educator workforce, and keep improving outcomes for children, families, and our economy.
Vermont’s future depends on what we do next.
