As a helpful resource for those interested in early education and care (EEC) policy in Massachusetts, MTF is publishing a series of EEC 101 Fact Sheets, each breaking down key parts of the early education space in the Commonwealth – from the impact of federal pandemic funding in the child care system to how provider reimbursement rates work.
This is the second installment of the MTF Competitiveness Index, which is designed to provide residents, employers, and policymakers with a holistic assessment of how Massachusetts compares to our regional and economic competitor states across 27 different metrics in four categories of competitiveness:
These slides were used during a 101 briefing on early education and care programs and funding in Massachusetts on September 15th. The briefing covered frequently asked questions about Child Care Financial Assistance, childcare capacity in the state, what reimbursement rates and the C3 grant program are and more. MTF partnered with Strategies for Children for this briefing.
There are more than 46,000 educators employed at early education programs across the state of Massachusetts. Early educators across programs provide quality education, safe spaces, and socio-emotional learning tools to our state’s youngest learners while also supporting the ability of families to participate in the Commonwealth’s labor force. They are the workforce behind the workforce.
On January 22nd, the Healey-Driscoll administration released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget proposal, which included notable spending increases in health care, education, and transportation. The $62.07 billion spending plan is a $4.3 billion (7.4 percent) increase over the FY 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) and a $1.8 billion (2.1 percent) increase over the administration’s FY 2025 estimated spending level.
As the work of the 194th General Court gets underway, MTF is publishing its 2025 – 2026 Legislative Session Preview. The preview includes 101 primers on the Operating Budget and Capital Investment Plan development processes, as well as seven topic-specific policy briefs that cover a range of public finance and policy issues.
In 2023, MTF released a report which made several recommendations on reforms that should be made to the Child Care Financial Assistance (CCFA) system to ensure greater system efficiency, family engagement, outcomes for children, and support for providers. CCFA is an integral and complex part of the Commonwealth’s multi-pronged early education and care system, serving over 65,000 children across the state.
MTF's 2024 Massachusetts Competitiveness Index Report is designed to put forward a framework to assess how Massachusetts stacks up compared to other states, key economic and geographic competitors, and itself.
The report looks at 26 different metrics organized into four critical areas:
•Economic Health
•Population and Labor Force Trends
•Business, Employment, and Investment Factors; and
•Resident Life
Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 begins on July 1st, and House and Senate budget negotiators are actively engaging in conversations to craft a compromise budget proposal. The Conference Committee process involves reconciling countless spending, policy, and technical differences between the two bills; and this year, the process will be further impacted by an uncertain fiscal picture for FY 2024 and a more constrained revenue outlook in FY 2025.
MTF’s latest chartbook, The Importance of Commonwealth Cares for Children, provides a comprehensive overview of this critical new childcare program, including:
