It is time to start investing in child care just as we invest in public schools.
We believe House Bill 149, sponsored by Rep. Zack Fields, and its accompanying child care trust fund, provides an opportunity to change the dynamics of child care in Alaska for generations to come. This bill combines a child care trust with sectoral bargaining to assure efficient and effective use of state dollars by allowing sector members to participate in policy and funding decisions made by the state.
With this innovative legislation and funding model, families will see real relief from rising costs, faith-based providers will have the opportunity for full inclusion, and child care programs will receive meaningful investments to help meet the costs of providing high-quality care provided by adequately compensated early childhood educators.
We appreciate the many legislators who have worked on HB149 over the past year and urge all House members to vote for it. Failure to pass HB149 will show a continued disregard for the valuable childcare workforce, prevent economic recovery, and further put Alaska children behind.is the former owner of Discovery Preschool in Juneau and the current executive director of the Association for the Education of Young Children - Southeast,Candace RicheyThe views expressed here are the writer’s and are not necessarily endorsed by the Anchorage Daily News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints.