Next week, the state House Committee on Families, Children, and Aging Policy will consider a bill that would provide a significant boost to the state’s early childhood education system. House Bill 574 would revise the reimbursement rates paid to those who care for children who receive childcare assistance. Increasing these rates is an important step to fully investing in North Carolina’s youngest children and the skilled educators who care for them. This bill would help build the strong and stable childcare system that our state needs to recover from COVID-19. Parents who are returning to work need accessible and affordable high quality educational opportunities for their children. This is especially true for working mothers who have been far more likely than men to leave the workforce during the pandemic because they’re caring for children.