To every parent, early educator, child care provider, partner, and community member who raised their voice for child care this year: thank you!
Because of your advocacy, $6.4 million for early educator recruitment and retention was approved by the Conference Committee and the full Alaska Legislature as part of the operating budget. The budget now heads to Governor Dunleavy for consideration.
This is an important step forward for Alaska’s child care system, and it happened because Alaskans showed up.
Advocacy works when we use our collective voice. None of these big wins would be possible without the 1,295 Alaskans who used their voice to support this funding. They shared personal struggles and stories. They signed letters. They sent messages. They made phone calls. They traveled to Juneau. They met with lawmakers. They helped remind decision-makers that child care is not just a family issue. It is a workforce, economic, and community issue.
Together, child care advocates helped build real momentum:
- 1,298 advocates have taken action in thread’s Action Center
- 4,530 actions were taken in support of child care
- More than 800 new advocates were added to this effort
Those numbers matter, but the people behind them matter even more. They represent families who need reliable care so they can work. They represent early educators who love this work but need a more sustainable future. They represent child care programs trying to keep classrooms open. They represent employers, communities, and partners who understand that Alaska cannot have a strong workforce without a strong child care system.
At thread, we believe that child care supports healthy children, strong families, and thriving communities. For more than 40 years, thread has worked alongside families, early educators, and child care programs to support access to quality early care and education across Alaska.
Over the past several years, thread’s advocacy work has focused on the three groups we serve every day: families, child care programs, and early educators. Last year brought significant progress for families and child care programs through new child care legislation and important policy changes to improve access and affordability. The Governor’s Child Care Task Force also helped elevate child care as a statewide priority and brought needed attention to the challenges families and early childhood educators are facing.
thread is grateful for Governor Dunleavy’s work on the child care crisis and his focus on supporting Alaska families. The progress made through the Governor’s Child Care Task Force, last year’s child care bills, and ongoing work to strengthen access and affordability have helped move Alaska’s child care system forward in meaningful ways.
This year’s early educator recruitment and retention funding is a chance to build on that progress by focusing on the people who make child care possible every day.
Early educators are the foundation of Alaska’s child care system. They care for children during the most important years of development. They help children learn, grow, and feel safe. They make it possible for parents to go to work, attend school, serve in the military, run businesses, and participate in their communities.
But across Alaska, child care programs continue to face serious workforce challenges. Too many early educators are leaving the field because wages are low, benefits are limited, and the work is not always supported in ways that reflect its importance.
When early educators leave, programs cannot stay fully staffed. When programs cannot stay fully staffed, classrooms close. When classrooms close, families lose care. And when families lose care, the impact is felt across Alaska’s workforce and economy.
That is why this funding matters.
This investment is about stability. It is about helping programs recruit and retain early educators. It is about keeping classrooms open. It is about supporting the workforce that keeps Alaska working. Most importantly, it is about making sure more Alaska families can access the child care they need.
Alaska families continue to face real child care challenges:
- More than 68 child care programs have closed across Alaska in the last year
- Thousands of children across the state still lack access to the child care they need
- Child care shortages continue to affect families, employers, and local economies
- Programs continue to struggle to recruit and retain qualified early educators
The Legislature’s approval of $6.4 million is a major milestone, but it is also part of a greater effort. Building a stronger child care system takes time, partnership, and continued commitment. It takes policymakers listening to families and child care professionals. It takes communities to understand the importance of early educators. And it takes advocates continuing to speak up.
This year, advocates did exactly that.
Through Parents for Care, multiple advocacy trips, letters, emails, phone calls, personal stories, and community conversations, Alaskans from across the state helped carry this message forward. They helped lawmakers understand what child care challenges look like in real life. They helped show why early educator support is directly connected to child care access for families.
As the budget heads to Governor Dunleavy for consideration, thread will continue to lift up the importance of this investment and the opportunity to build on the progress Alaska has already made.
We are grateful to every advocate who took action, every policymaker who listened, and every partner who helped move this work forward.
Most of all, we are grateful to Alaska’s early educators and child care programs. They continue to show up for children and families every day, often under incredibly difficult circumstances. This work is about supporting them, recognizing their importance, and helping create a stronger future for child care in Alaska.
Thank you for standing with Alaska’s children, families, early educators, and communities!
Together, we are building momentum for a stronger child care system and a stronger Alaska.
