November 19, 2025
The Honorable Jason M. Lewis, The Honorable Kenneth I. Gordon,
Chair Joint Committee on Education Chair Joint Committee on Education
State House, Room 511-B Boston, MA 02133 State House, Room 473G Boston, MA 02133
RE: Testimony in support of a Resolve establishing a commission to study the funding of high-quality early education and care in Massachusetts (S.346).
Chair Lewis, Chair Gordon and distinguished members of the Joint Committee on Education:
Thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony in support of S. 346, a Resolve establishing a commission to study the funding of high-quality early education and care in Massachusetts. My name is Adam Jones and I am a Senior Policy Analyst at Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget).
MassBudget is a non-partisan, non-profit research and advocacy organization. We provide rigorous research and policy analysis, along with strategic advocacy in partnership with grassroots organizations. MassBudget has done extensive research and holds critical expertise in many policy areas including early education and care.
The bill before you seeks to address the systemic funding challenges that the early education and care sector faces. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Massachusetts Legislature has made historic investments in early education and care. In Fiscal Year 2026 alone, the state is set to spend nearly $2 billion on child care. Yet, the early education sector continues to struggle with profound issues, including low wages for educators, lack of affordability for families, and limited access to care for families with the fewest resources. While increased investments are necessary to improve our system, achieving the goal of universal, high-quality early education and care in the Commonwealth will require reenvisioning how we finance and administer care.
This bill would create a commission to study the feasibility of establishing an early education and care foundation budget. A foundation budget would allow legislators and administrators to determine the early
education needs across the state. It would also serve as a tool to ensure that educators are adequately compensated, and children receive the care that they need to thrive. The foundation budget codified through Chapter 70 for public K-12 schools uses district-wide enrollment and high-quality rates to determine the cost of adequately educating students within a district. This budget allows us to better support the needs of all public K-12 students, regardless of their zip code, income, native language, and/or disability status. In Massachusetts, an effective, equitable school funding system is not a theoretical framework, but the basis for a strong K-12 public education system. Because of our state’s success in creating a more equitable K-12 funding model, Massachusetts is uniquely positioned to design an early education foundation budget and provide recommendations for policy design and implementation.
All Massachusetts families deserve access to high-quality, affordable child care. All early educators deserve a wage that allows them to comfortably care for themselves and their own families.
Massachusetts has the knowledge and resources to make both of these a reality. We believe examining a new funding structure for our early education system is a necessary first step.
We urge the Committee to report this bill out favorably. Thank you for your time and consideration. Respectfully submitted,
Adam Jones
Senior Budget Analyst
Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center
