![](data:image/svg+xml;base64,PD94bWwgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4wIiBlbmNvZGluZz0iVVRGLTgiPz4KPHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHhtbG5zOnhsaW5rPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8xOTk5L3hsaW5rIiB3aWR0aD0iMTQ4Ny41cHQiIGhlaWdodD0iMTkyNXB0IiB2aWV3Qm94PSIwIDAgMTQ4Ny41IDE5MjUiIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMiI+CjxnIGlkPSJzdXJmYWNlOSI+CjwvZz4KPC9zdmc+Cg==)
WHEREAS, Many early childhood educators earn poverty-level
wages and do not have basic workplace benefits, including health
insurance and paid sick leave; and
WHEREAS, Twenty-one percent of child-care workers in this
Commonwealth make so little that they live in families accessing
public benefits; and
WHEREAS, Paying the costs of high-quality early childhood
education is a revenue-generating investment over time resulting
in a broad range of benefits that accrue to individuals and
society at large; and
WHEREAS, Payment rates provided to early childhood programs
to provide high-quality early care and education services to
low-income children do not cover the costs of quality; and
WHEREAS, The continued staffing crisis can be detrimental to
the quality of the environment, impacting the development of
young children and families' ability to work; and
WHEREAS, The lack of sufficient and sustained public
investment results in staffing shortages caused by low
compensation, which are leading to child care supply shortages
that negatively impact families' ability to work, children's
access to safe and quality care and educators' health and well-
being; and
WHEREAS, Young children need skilled, educated, competent,
consistent and compensated early childhood educators; and
WHEREAS, Working families need sufficient high-quality child-
care spaces beginning at birth to be available in the community;
and
WHEREAS, Early childhood educations need the ability to earn
a family-sustaining wage that is commensurate with the required
education and skills they bring to the complex and valuable work
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