Jeremy Fischer is an attorney, former legislator, former Yarmouth School Board member and chair of Educare Central Maine. He is also the father of three school-aged children.

As Maine transitions into spring, we step into a busy election season — during which voters will elect our next governor and all 186 state legislators. Many issues will be discussed as candidates listen to the constituents they hope to serve and set policy visions and goals. High-quality early care and education should be a top priority for every policymaker. 

Maine business leaders across this state are concerned about hiring skilled employees, finding customers who can afford their goods and services and operating in an environment that spurs innovation and economic vitality. At the same time, young adults aspire to good jobs and future livelihoods here in Maine. Meeting these dual and aligned goals should be top of mind for every candidate.

Overwhelmingly, the evidence shows that the root of these factors lies in children who have a good start that prepares them with the foundational knowledge and skills for success in school and in life. There are literally decades of research, including economic ROI studies, that validate the important role and economic return that high-quality child care, infancy to preschool, plays in our education and economic development systems.

Where children are each day, and what activities they engage in, has a profound impact on their development. Getting the first five years of life off to an educationally sound start is a major predictor of the contribution each of our youngest citizens will make as adults. Believing the research requires an urgent focus on making sure that early care and education programs are more than just a safe place for children; that programs fully embrace and nurture child development.

Three key elements of quality matter. First, physical space must be safe, clean and use materials that stimulate physical and cognitive growth and interpersonal skill development with peers and adults. Second, instruction and curriculum should be research-based and age-appropriate. Third, and most important, daily care and teachings must be consistent, supportive and stimulate learning. This underscores what parents already know: the heart of any early care and education program is the relationships between our children and their teachers. 

Highly qualified early educators provide the needed nurturing, interactions and supportive developmentally appropriate instruction that leads to critical pre-literacy, pre-math, other academic and interpersonal skill development that is foundational to later success.  

This school year, approximately 62% of all Maine 4-year-olds are in public pre-K. Maine needs more, especially in rural communities. Also, there continues to be a lack of child care programs, especially in rural Maine, for working parents who need full-time care for infants-to-3-year-olds and after-school care for 4-to-11-year-olds.

Thus, child care is one of the most fundamental components of our business infrastructure.  Parents cannot go to work without a quality place caring for their children. We cannot plan for new jobs, additional workers or economic growth without quality child care being central to the economic development dialogue. This requires a coordinated, sustained and forward-looking approach to support children, families and the early educators who care for our children. 

Think of child care as a three-legged stool:  access, affordability and quality. The floor on which that stool stands is the child care workforce. Supporting this workforce behind every other workforce in Maine has been a state budget focus for the past several years and should continue to be so. 

Child care educators’ wages should be able to compete with other employment sectors that are taking these educators out of the early learning workforce. This brings stability and predictability to state programs supporting child care, and it looks forward to the future to help us all plan for how the vital child care sector survives and thrives in Maine’s future economy.

Helping families and children is a package deal. When families are supported, so are children.   When they thrive, the economy thrives. These issues should be cornerstone tenets for all Maine candidates seeking office this fall.