We have a childcare affordability crisis in Michigan. Some parents are stuck on waiting lists for months; others are paying more for care than their mortgage. And too often, women are pushed out of the workforce because affordable, reliable care simply doesn't exist. As a working mom and public servant, I understand the stress, the tradeoffs, and the urgency families feel every single day.

The crisis runs deeper than most people realize. Right now, childcare workers earn poverty wages while doing some of the most important work there is — and they're leaving the field in droves. We can't build a stable system on an unstable workforce. When the people caring for our youngest children can't afford childcare for their own kids, can't pay rent on their salaries, and have no clear career pathway, the whole system collapses. That's why waiting lists keep growing, and costs keep climbing. We simply don't have enough providers because we've failed to treat early childhood education as the dignified profession it is. 

We can and must build a system that supports children's development, respects working parents, and provides every child a strong start from day one.

Imagine a Michigan where every family has access to next-generation early learning and care that's affordable, reliable, and built to last. That's the future I'm ready to deliver.