Childcare Visit and Conversation Remarks

Thank you to Harmony Montessori School for hosting us for an important conversation about early learning in Oregon. And thank you to everyone who joined me today, particularly the families who shared their stories. 

The early childhood leaders standing behind me – State Representative Jules Walters, Kali Thorne Ladd from the Children’s Institute, Candice Williams from For All Families Oregon, Denisa McLain from Preschool for All, Elaine Harrison from Oregon Head Start, and two families who have made time today to share with us their experiences with preschool programs in Oregon – stand united in a belief that access to high-quality, affordable childcare and early learning programs isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s foundational. It changes outcomes for children. It changes lives for families. And it’s essential to Oregon’s economy. 

One of the lessons I learned early in my advocacy career that continues to shape how I govern is this:  working families don’t need charity – they need change. We need an economy that works for the people who make it run. And right now, too many working families are being held back because they can’t find or afford childcare. That’s not acceptable. 

Oregon has made progress because legislators and voters have stepped up. Programs like Oregon Pre-K, Preschool Promise, and Preschool for All in Multnomah County have demonstrated something important: when we invest in high-quality early learning, children arrive at kindergarten more prepared, more confident, and ready to thrive. They learn to read earlier. They develop social and emotional skills that stay with them. And their families can work, contribute, and find stability. 

But these programs don’t yet reach every Oregon family that needs them. And that’s what I’m committed to changing. 

Last year, I announced the launch of the Early Childhood Care and Learning System Roundtable – bringing together state and national experts to assess what it would take to expand these programs to every family. The goal is universal access to high-quality early learning for 3- and 4-year-olds across Oregon and expanded childcare options for infants and toddlers. 

This isn’t just good for children and families – it’s good for our economy. Employers across Oregon will tell you that workforce participation depends on childcare access. When parents can’t find or afford childcare, they leave the workforce, especially women. That affects businesses, communities, and Oregon’s economic competitiveness. Employers understand this. And they’re with us on this. 

I’m also committed to sustaining and expanding the Employment Related Day Care program, which helps working families access the childcare they need to get to work. I helped find the funding to keep this program going, and we must keep working to reduce the waitlist. 

And while we’re building toward universal preschool here in Oregon, the Trump administration is moving in the opposite direction – freezing childcare funding and undermining early childhood education at the federal level. His proposed changes to Head Start are wrong. 

Oregon will continue to push back. The Oregon Head Start Association and the state’s Department of Early Learning and Care sent public comment letters voicing our concerns to the Trump administration. I am prepared to use every tool I have to preserve the critical role Head Start programming and funding play in Oregon’s early childhood education infrastructure. 

Every family deserves to know their child’s future is a priority. Every child in Oregon deserves a strong start. And I’m going to keep fighting until that is a reality for every family. Thank you.