Photo: Alyssa Haywoode for Strategies for Children
On Thursday, May 10, 2018, Senate Ways and Means Chair Karen Spilka released a $41.42 billion budget proposal for fiscal year 2019.
The Senate budget is slightly higher than Governor Baker’s proposal and slightly lower than the House budget.
For early education and care, the Senate budget invests $5 million in preschool expansion, increases funds for child care resource and referral agencies, and level funds most other programs. Unlike the House, the Senate budget does not include a rate reserve for early educator salaries.
The Senate budget’s executive summary states: “Skills learned in early childhood directly impact future academic achievement and personal and economic success. The Committee’s budget invests in kids beginning at birth and seeks to remove barriers to access and quality care.”
Additional reporting on the Senate budget and its implications can be found at MassLive and The Boston Globe.
The Senate will debate amendments to the budget on May 22. Visit Strategies for Children’s website for a complete list of early education line items.
Stay tuned for more information on amendments and advocacy opportunities.
Eye on Early Education is a blog of Strategies for Children, an organization that works to ensure that Massachusetts invests the resources needed for all children, from birth to age five, to access high-quality early education programs that prepare them for success in school and life. The blogger, 
eyeonearlyeducation.org 
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