LETTER FROM PARENT VOICES EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

California needs superheroes. Children, families and childcare providers are under attack, at risk of losing access to healthcare and early childhood education funding. The only ones being saved now are corporate billionaires known as the “Silicon Six.” They paid $278 billion less in taxes than they should under statutory rates. Yet, the burden on our working class is so heavy that it catapulted California to become the fourth largest economy in the world. The people keeping California strong are the working class, not billionaires. 

Try explaining California’s strong economy to a family struggling to afford childcare and housing, or to a childcare provider who has been paid poverty wages for decades. How do lawmakers reckon with having the strongest economy in the country with one of the highest child poverty rates? We deserve better. 

  The wealthiest Californians are awarded billions in state tax breaks each year with minimal oversight. Meanwhile, Gov. Gavin Newsom is pausing his promised 200,000 childcare slots and delaying pay for the true cost of operations for childcare providers. How can children be our future when the state is shortchanging them now? 

  There is a disconnect between our values and the use of tax dollars. Nearly 2 million children are eligible to receive subsidized childcare in California alone, yet only 11% of eligible children are enrolled. Our governor, representatives and budget committees must take a hard look at our needs and decide whether to address them or continue shirking responsibility.  

There is little hope at the federal level. The Trump administration is dismantling Head Start and diverting trillions of dollars to give tax breaks for the uber-wealthy. Diverting resources from the most vulnerable to the elite is villainous. For California to lead, our state budget must be the first line of defense. Only lawmakers hold the power to correct inequities in the state budget.  

 Federal cuts put tremendous pressure on our state. The May revised state budget will come soon and tell us that we do not have enough funding to invest in our needs. However, we must exhaust all options before delaying promises. Lawmakers must check their moral compass and pause tax breaks on billionaires. Those funds are better used expanding access to childcare and ensuring wages for the childcare providers we rely on. 

 As a mother and the executive director of Parent Voices, I know the needs of families and early childhood educators. I know families want a hand up, not a handout. Caregivers play a critical role in the success of early brain development in children. The toxic narratives that families are not deserving or that early educators are just babysitters need to end. 

 To celebrate Mother’s Day this year, save the flowers; instead, let’s fight for justice. On May 12th, Californians will join National Day Without Child Care to sound the alarms on America’s childcare crisis. On May 14th, Parent Voices and I will join hundreds at the State Capitol for our annual Stand for Children Day. Everyone is welcome, and the impact will be massive. We are bringing people from across the state to Sacramento to meet with our legislative leaders and demand they choose kids over corporations. 

Leaders must govern with conviction, not self-serving avarice. Even beyond the moral imperative, every dollar invested in childcare in California leads to $1.88 in immediate economic activity. We can afford to invest in childcare, and doing so builds economic power for all. 

Access to childcare made all the difference for me—I wouldn’t have made it without it. Childcare is what allows the workforce to thrive. Expanding affordable childcare for all is not just an investment in families. It’s a commitment to a more prosperous future. 

  We are angry. We are scared. We are hurt by federal slashing while the rich roll in their wealth. Our leaders must find their consciences. This problem has a clear solution. 

It comes down to this: Superheroes choose Kids, not Billionaires. 

Mary Ignatius is the Executive Direct of Parent Voices, which uses grassroots organizing and leadership development to center parents in transforming childcare to be just, fair, and inclusive. Parent Voices is a grantee of the Raising Child Care Fund.