Candidate Survey Responses 2024
Check below to see if your candidate completed a survey or signed the pledge to be a legislative champion for our youngest children, those under five years of age, to help ensure their access to high-quality care and early learning options.
OPTIONAL PLEDGE: “I will advocate for increased state funding for high-quality, affordable child care and Pre-K to ensure every Pennsylvania child has a strong start to life and the opportunity to reach their full potential. “
This means the candidate has additional thoughts about this question. Click to view.
Federal Level Questions & Answers for Each Candidate
QUESTION 1:
Do you support lifting the cap on federal discretionary spending for the purpose of increasing federal funds for child care, Head Start, home visiting programs and Early Intervention (Parts B and C) so that all eligible children can be enrolled in these programs?
QUESTION 2:
Do you support spending federal funds above the current appropriations for child care, Head Start and Early Intervention to boost wages of early learning staff so that programs can more readily meet the needs of eligible children?
QUESTION 3:
Do you agree that the federal government should cover the cost of subsidized child care so that working families who are eligible for child care subsidy pay no more than 7% of household income for child care?
QUESTION 4:
Do you agree the federal Head Start program should be expanded with additional federal funding to reach all children eligible for the program?
QUESTION 5:
Do you agree the federal government should increase spending to increase access to evidenced-based home visiting programs?
QUESTION 6:
Do you agree that the federal government should invest funds to increase access to free pre-K programs?
QUESTION 7:
Do you agree that the federal government should adopt policies and spend more resources to boost the quality of early learning programs?
QUESTION 8:
Do you support policies that require government payment to early intervention, child care and pre-K providers at an amount that covers the full cost of operating these programs?
QUESTION 9:
Do you support adoption of the expanded refundable Child Tax Credit of $3,600 per child under 5 years old and $3,000 for children ages 5-17 years old?
QUESTION 10:
Do you support the enactment of a federal paid family and medical leave program modeled after states with robust universally available programs?
State Level Questions & Answers for Each Candidate
QUESTION 1:
Do you believe that the first three years of life matter to a child’s development and that the potential of these formative years can be augmented when young children attend child care programs that have talented staff who, along with parents, help establish a strong foundation of infants’ and toddlers’ developmental skills?
QUESTION 2:
Do you believe that high quality Pre-K builds strong social and emotional skills that help prepare children for early school success?
QUESTION 3:
Would you support allocating more state funding for high-quality Pre-K education for three- and four-year-olds?
QUESTION 4:
Do you believe that making child care more accessible and affordable will help businesses find more qualified workers?
QUESTION 5:
Do you support increasing state funds to boost the wages of child care staff?
QUESTION 6:
Do you support increasing state funds for child care so that more families can afford child care?
QUESTION 7:
Should the wages for child care workers and preschool teachers be commensurate with those of other educators who work in k-12 schools and have similar qualifications?
QUESTION 8:
Will you support more state funds spent for home visiting programs that help new parents care for their babies?
QUESTION 9:
Will you advocate for increased access to services that connect youth and families to work?
QUESTION 10:
Do you or family members have personal experiences with ECE they’d like to share (or more specifically, struggles finding child care)?