Attend next week’s State House hearing on early education and care — live or virtually

Tune into next week’s hearing!

On Tuesday, October 17, 2023, at 11 a.m., the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Education will hold a hearing on an early education and care.

“The public is invited to participate in this hybrid hearing, which will be live-streamed on the Massachusetts Legislature website. To register to testify in-person or virtually, please provide contact information on the form linked here,” the committee’s website explains.

To testify in person, people can register at the hearing, but it’s best to register ahead of time.

The deadline to sign up for virtual testimony is 3:00PM on Monday, October 16th. â€œThe Chair will limit testimony to two minutes per individual and reserves the right to call public officials out of turn.”

Among the bills being considered are similar bills in the House and Senate both officially known as “An Act providing affordable and accessible high-quality early education and care to promote child development and well-being and support the economy in the Commonwealth,” H.489 / S.301, which advances the vision of the Common Start Coalition.

The Coalition has posted a fact sheet about the bills, which explains that they would create a structure for delivering “affordable care options for families; significantly better pay and benefits for early educators; a new, stable source of funding for providers; high-quality programs and services for children; and substantial relief for businesses and our economy.”

The coalition has also posted tips for writing testimony to support these bills.

The Common Start Coalition is trying to get an accurate count of everyone who plans to attend the hearing in person, so to be counted RSVP here.

Please attend the hearing or watch it online either live or later on. It’s a good example of how the legislative process works, how every filed bill gets a public hearing, which happens once during every legislative session, every two years.

And consider sharing your testimony. It’s crucial for lawmakers to hear from the early education and care field so they can make informed progress!