Bernie Sanders Rolls Out $1.5 Trillion Plan For Free, Universal Child Care

It’s the latest early childhood plan from a 2020 Democratic candidate — and it could be the biggest.

By Jonathan Cohn

Excerpt:

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Monday rolled out a plan under which the federal government would make child care and pre-kindergarten available to all American families, with no tuition or fees.

The Sanders plan, (https://berniesanders.com/issues/free-child-care-and-pre-k-all/) which campaign officials provided to reporters over the weekend, is the latest major proposal on early childhood to come from a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate. And with a projected budget of $1.5 trillion over 10 years, the Sanders plan may also be the biggest.

A major theme of the Sanders proposal is to treat child care as an extension of public education.

That means, among other things, focusing on raising qualifications and pay for the adults who care for children. Following a phase-in period, child care providers would have to meet the same training standards they do for the federal Head Start program, in which, for example, all lead preschool teachers must have a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or some related field.

In return, the program envisions paying child care providers more like public school teachers by requiring that they make a living wage. Although the plan does not specify what that means, it’s bound to be a lot higher than existing wages, which are about $12 an hour or roughly the median wage for retail cashiers. Those low wages make it difficult to attract or retain the most talented workers.

The other way the Sanders plan treats child care like public education is by making it free at the point of service. It would be open to all families, regardless of income, at no direct cost to them.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sanders-free-universal-child-care-plan_n_5e52f4aac5b629695f5c3e0f