It’s summer. ☀️
If you’re a working parent like I was, you know the summer season means figuring out child care and summertime activities for your kids.
As of 2022, New Mexico’s state constitution guarantees the right to early childhood education, with more than 30,000 families qualifying for completely free child care. It’s an overwhelmingly popular new policy that has lifted thousands of families out of poverty.
A policy like this one would have been a lifeline for me when I was a young single mom. I knew the importance of early childhood education, so I was desperate to find Somáh somewhere to attend preschool. Luckily, I found a school that allowed me to volunteer cleaning up classrooms in exchange for a discount on tuition. It was the only way I could have afforded an early childhood education for my child.
It shouldn’t cost a fortune to give our kids opportunities to learn.
Child care and early learning shouldn’t be a luxury that only the wealthy have access to. That’s not who we should be as a country. So when MAGA Republicans threaten to take away funding for early education access, it hurts our kids, working parents, and our entire state economy.
Here in New Mexico, we can’t afford to lose an inch of ground when it comes to increasing opportunities for our children. And we still have much more work to do when it comes to improving education outcomes and making life more affordable for families.
My child Somáh is grown up now, but I’m not done fighting for children across New Mexico.
That’s why it’s critical that we win this race together. Electing state leaders who understand the urgency around issues like affordable child care and early learning is how we can protect and build upon our progress.
Be fierce,
Deb
