Gateway to Pre-K: universal preschool in Gateway Cities
Pre-K plan to save families money and transform early education in our state. First, we'll get direct help to thousands of families, by expanding eligibility for state financial assistance. In this program, childcare costs are capped based on what you
can afford.
Next, we'll set a new goal for early education in Massachusetts. Let's have universal pre-K access for every 4-year-old in our state.
Let's have universal pre-K access for every 4-year-old in our state.
By 2026, we will guarantee access to high-quality, affordable preschool for every 4-yearold in all 26 Gateway Cities.
That means a seat in a classroom for over 23,000 children. And we won't stop there.
We're going to keep working--with businesses, providers, and the champions of childcare in the Legislature and across the state. Together, we will expand access, lower costs, and meet this childcare challenge.
Most generous child and dependent tax credit of any state
We now have the most generous child and dependent tax credit of any state in the country. And we got rid of the two-child cap!
For someone like my mom, it would've meant an extra $2200 every year. Mom, I bet you could've used that money.
Source: 2024 State of the State Address to the Mass. legislature
, Jan 17, 2024
Common Start: free child care for lowest-income families
As Governor, she will continue to advocate for federal funding for early education and care, as well as explore state solutions to the child care crisis. Maura supports the Common Start proposal, which would make child care free for the lowest-income
families, limit child care costs for most families to no more than 7 percent of their income, and significantly increase pay for early educators to address the workforce crisis in the early education field.