Every day, childcare providers across New Hampshire make impossible choices. Can we keep a classroom open when a teacher calls out sick? Can we hire qualified staff when local retail stores pay more per hour? Can we support children with complex behavioral needs while making sure every child gets the attention they deserve?
These are not political questions. They are the daily struggles of local childcare providers that make it possible for New Hampshire parents to go to work.
That is why it is so frustrating that Executive Councilor John Stephen has spent months arguing over a funding proposal that remains unworkable under current federal and state constraints. Meanwhile, a ready-to-go, $1.3 million contract amendment that is 100% federally funded was blocked right here at home by him, Joe Kenney and Dave Wheeler.
What is happening, how did we get here, and why did it become a game of “one or the other”?
For months, Councilor Stephen claimed New Hampshire could tap the full $15 million in federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program reserves for childcare workforce bonuses. The July 27 federal response tells a more limited story.
The Administration for Children and Families confirmed that program funds transferred to the Child Care and Development Fund can legally fund worker bonuses, but federal law limits those transfers to roughly $11.5 million annually using current-year assistance program funds, not the much larger reserve balance that has been cited publicly. Much of that balance consists of prior-year funds that are not eligible to be transferred to the Fund under federal transfer rules.
Furthermore, the state’s available annual TANF transfer capacity is already committed through the enacted budget to support childcare scholarships so working parents can stay employed. The existence of a lawful funding mechanism under federal law does not mean $15 million was actually available to New Hampshire for this purpose. Conflating those two issues has prolonged a debate while providers continue to wait for support.
While Councilor Stephen chased a funding proposal that remains unworkable under current constraints, Kenney, Wheeler and Stephen voted to block a $1.3 million federal contract amendment that was ready to go.
In their NH Journal op-ed, Councilors Kenney and Stephen wrote that “nothing about that vote interrupted a single training session.” Providers have experienced real disruptions despite those assurances. That blocked contract paid for hands-on classroom coaches, behavioral specialists and training infrastructure. Because of their votes:
- New childcare programs are completely locked out from applying for state quality programs.
- After-school/Out-of-School Time programs have now gone without access to dedicated coaches or professional development trainings for over a year.
- Independent centers are now blocked from earning an estimated $2.3 million in direct quality incentives.
- Childcare providers are now forced to pay out of pocket for training, credentialing and compliance costs just to maintain basic quality benchmarks.
Setting up a false choice between “teacher raises” and “teacher training” ignores how a real classroom works. When a center has access to a behavior coach who helps manage a struggling child, teachers don’t quit from stress. When directors get technical assistance with licensing and special needs, classrooms stay open.
Coaching and compensation go hand in hand. Due to the grandstanding and performative talking points by three of the councilors, childcare providers did not receive workforce grants and have lost invaluable quality tools and resources.
There is no argument that the childcare system in New Hampshire is imperfect and requires radical investment. Parents are paying too much and childcare workers are not earning enough. One-time grants are better than nothing, but as an administrator, I cannot use these funds to raise my staff’s hourly wage, improve benefits or make any other permanent change that would lead to true retention. We are continuing to delay the inevitable.
We all want higher wages for childcare workers, but hoping to stretch a capped federal mechanism into the full $15 million won’t pay a single teacher’s bills.
New Hampshire already has a fully-funded, $1.3 million federal solution sitting right in front of the Executive Council. It costs state taxpayers zero dollars.
It’s time for Councilors Kenney, Stephen and Wheeler to stop chasing dead ends, face the accounting realities, and vote “yes” to unfreeze our state’s childcare infrastructure.
New Hampshire’s working families, childcare providers and small businesses deserve nothing less.
Ana Byers is a CPA and the Administrator of East Side Learning Center, located in Concord.