Mar. 3—Child care workers in Maine are planning to strike Tuesday morning to show their opposition to proposed budget cuts targeting a state stipend program that day care operators say has allowed the industry to stabilize.
As of Monday afternoon, as many as 200 early childhood education workers were planning to participate, and at least 15 child care centers from Saco to Oxford said they would close for at least part of the day. The workers will gather in the State House rotunda at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.
The stipend was created in 2021 and provided an extra $200 a month to all child care workers. It has grown since then into a tiered system that provides between $240 and $540 a month based on education and experience. Day care operators say it has allowed them to raise starting wages for teachers and work toward full staffing.
Gov. Janet Mills proposed cutting that program in half in her biennial budget this year after warning last year that expansions couldn’t be sustained. She has proposed returning to the 2022 level of funding, as well as eliminating a newer $2.5 million program that covers child care tuition for people who work in the industry.
The Legislature’s Appropriations and Finance Committee last week heard and read testimony that overwhelmingly opposed the cuts. The Health and Human Services Committee is set to vote on them Wednesday.
That’s where plans for the strike arose, according to Heather Marden, with the Maine Association for the Education of Young Children.
“When we are taking a bold step to intentionally invite programs to do this, it’s because we do understand that a moment-in-time disruption will be worth it if we can convince lawmakers not to create a much bigger disruption down the road,” Marden said.
Day care centers in Portland, Gorham, Brunswick, Scarborough, Saco, Cape Elizabeth and Oxford all plan to close for at least part of the day for the strike, Marden said.
Hannah Marshall, program director for Windham-Raymond School Age Child Care in Windham, said the center won’t open until the afternoon so that 11 staff members can travel to Augusta and participate in the rally.
“Since the stipends have been rolled out, our staff retention has increased, our interest in individuals pursuing credentials or higher education has increased, and we’ve just been able to keep a more reliable and qualified workforce,” she said.
Marshall said some families have been frustrated at the short notice — SACC was only able to notify families Monday morning because the strike was planned so quickly — but others have been supportive of the cause.
“A one-day inconvenience to families is significantly less of a burden than what we will be faced with if these cuts go through,” she said. “We’ll either be looking at raising tuition rates significantly on families that we know can’t afford it, or losing staff and having to reduce our enrollment numbers or close centers.
“A one-day, half-day strike is inconvenient and is very hard for families, but the detrimental impact that could happen if these cuts go through would be far more damaging to the families.”
Youth and Family Outreach, a day care center in Portland, is staying open out of concern for the families it serves, but Executive Director Camelia Babson-Haley said she has called in substitute teachers so seven employees can go to Augusta and participate in the protest.
“If these budget cuts go through, classrooms will close and centers will close. It’s not a matter of if — they will,” Babson-Haley said.
But she said it has been inspiring to see child care workers come together to share that message with legislators.
“We know firsthand what the impacts of these budget cuts are going to be. We know firsthand how hard it’s been to get people into early childhood jobs and keep them,” she said. “The idea of trying to keep them in the field at even lower wages is unfathomable. There isn’t a contingency plan for this.”
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