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Harvard economist urges Massachusetts to prioritize early-educator pay before rapid slot expansion
Summary
Dr. Jeffrey Liebman told the EEC board that market failures leave families unable to afford care and providers unable to recruit staff, recommending wage-first reforms paired with quality investments and matched voucher expansion; his analysis estimates roughly $37,100 in public spending per young child and finds strong latent demand.
Dr. Jeffrey Liebman, director at Harvard's Rappaport Institute, told the Department of Early Education and Care board that Massachusetts should sequence reforms for early education by stabilizing educator pay first and then expanding slots and subsidies.
Liebman said his economic analysis — built on new provider-level data from the state's C3 system and a MassInc survey of about 1,000 Massachusetts mothers — assumes policy will build on the existing provider base, avoid crowding out current funding, and align short-term steps with long-term goals. "It looks to me like we're spending about 37,100 dollars in terms of public spending per child," he told the board, comparing that to roughly $20,000 per K–12 pupil and arguing the figure shows the distribution of current public…
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