Early Childhood Education: Delivering on the Promise of Act 76 - Ensuring an Equitable, Affordable, and Sustainable Early Childhood Education System in Vermont

Since Act 76 passed, Vermont has made significant, measurable progress towards solving our state’s child care crisis. Public investments have already made our state more affordable for families and businesses by bringing down the cost of child care for thousands of Vermonters – allowing parents to work and businesses to hire and retain the employees they need.

However, we have much more work to do to reach the goals the Legislature laid out in Act 76:

  • All Vermont families who need it have access to affordable, quality child care.
  • Families spend no more than 10% of their household income on child care.
  • Every child has access to skilled, well-prepared, and professionally compensated early childhood educators.

Through Act 76, the Vermont Legislature made a promise to Vermonters that we would fix our broken child care system, make child care more accessible and affordable, and grow our economy. We’ve made real progress, but we’re far from finished. 

The Alliance supports Let’s Grow Kids and the Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children in their work to continue building on the success of Act 76 with the goal of making it work for all Vermont families with young children, and to ensure that funding gets into the hands of those who need it most – child care programs and early childhood educators, families, and kids.

 Lead Organizations: Let’s Grow Kids and the Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children

Data and Talking Points

  • Public investment through Act 76 is working! More child care spaces are being created, early childhood educator wages are increasing, more families have access to affordable child care, and it’s helping boost our workforce and economy. When we invest in child care, we’re investing in a brighter future for Vermont.
  • Since Act 76 went into effect, over 1,000 new child care spaces have been created, and thousands of additional Vermont children and their families have become eligible for more affordable child care! There is still more to be done to strengthen Act 76 and make more progress on child care, but the progress so far shows public investment in child care works.
  • The single most important element of quality experiences for young children is the qualifications of their teacher. Elevating early childhood educators as professionals is the key to doing our best for young children and their families, and to creating our best future as a state.
  • Professional recognition of early childhood educators creates a sustainable, accessible, transparent system that centers quality and equity, and that works for everyone: children, families, early childhood education workforce, program directors, and the public.

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