The Passage of Pennsylvania’s 2025–2026 Budget and What Comes Next for Child Care

STATEMENT: Early Excellence Project on the Passage of Pennsylvania’s 2025–2026 Budget and What Comes Next for Child Care

Pittsburgh, PA

Pennsylvania’s 2025–2026 budget includes a $25 million investment for child care recruitment and retention bonuses. This funding acknowledges what families and providers have known for years: early educators are essential, and they deserve to be compensated for the work that keeps our communities moving.

At the Early Excellence Project, we welcome this investment, and we remain clear-eyed about what comes next.

Our recent blog, “When Government Funding Gaps Widen, Who Steps In to Keep Child Care Afloat,” highlighted a truth that every childcare provider in our network lives every day. One-time grants and stop-gap payments help in the moment. Yet without long-term, predictable funding, childcare programs continue to shoulder the burden of an unstable system, especially those serving Black, Brown, and low-income families.

This budget is a step in the right direction. It puts needed dollars into the pockets of early educators who have carried far too much on far too little. And it creates momentum for a future where recruitment and retention do not depend on temporary relief, but on a system that values, funds, and sustains early learning as the public good that it is.

As we celebrate this win for Pennsylvania’s childcare workforce, we remain focused on the work ahead. We will continue partnering with providers, elevating their voices, and advocating for policies that strengthen childcare infrastructure, stabilize the workforce, and expand access for families throughout Allegheny County.

The road to a thriving early learning ecosystem requires consistent investment, not episodic rescue. This budget keeps the conversation moving, and EEP will continue pushing for the long-term solutions our providers and families deserve.

DaVonna Shannon, Ph.D.

Executive Director

Early Excellence Project