ICYMI: Opinion | College degrees aren’t what make great child care

October 14, 2024 at 5:45 a.m. EDT

Mike Lee, a Republican, represents Utah in the U.S. Senate. Nancy Mace, a Republican, represents South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District in House.

Every working parent knows that child care is nearly unattainable for many families across America. For those living in our nation’s capital, a growing list of onerous regulations has made the cost of child care among the highest in the country.

The numbers speak for themselves: In a survey conducted by Under 3 DC, a local nonprofit, more than half of parents said child-care costs “would affect their ability to continue to live in Washington.”

Rather than tackle skyrocketing costs, D.C.’s superintendent for education imposed yet another regulation last year that will make the crisis worse.

D.C. now requires many child-care workers, including those who care for infants and toddlers, to earn an associate’s degree. Being a director at a child-care facility requires a bachelor’s degree. This makes D.C. one of the few places in the country that requires a college education to provide child care.

There is no doubt this mandate will make child care more expensive. Research conducted at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University found that when states required teachers in child-care facilities to have a high school degree, the cost of care increased by 25 to 46 percent for infants and 22 to 40 percent for 4-year-olds.

What do parents get in return? There’s no substantial evidence that shows child-care providers with college degrees (or high school degrees) are more effective than their non-degreed counterparts.

Experience, training and a genuine passion for working with children are just as important — if not more so. Disqualifying these people based solely on their educational background is a disservice to them and the families they serve.

The requirements will push out experienced, passionate workers and create a vacuum in a strained industry. And it will disproportionately affect potential workers from minority and lower-income communities.

D.C. parents consistently say that cost and availability are the paramount child-care problems in the city. There is no outcry about the qualifications of current caregivers. In fact, parents like the quality of care their children receive when they get it — so much so they want more of it. Qualified child-care workers, who are valued by parents, shouldn’t be forced from their job over arbitrary rules. And potential caregivers shouldn’t be blocked from the field because bureaucrats and regulators, who think they know how to raise children better than parents, say so.

The stakes are high: Research shows that quality early childhood investment makes a huge difference in a child’s life. Without it, the cycle is vicious: When parents can’t access affordable child care, children miss out on early developmental support, which leads to poorer academic outcomes and a harder life. In D.C., parents of children in the two lowest-income wards have the fewest child-care options.

The real victims of this regulation are child-care workers — and everyday families. The city’s continued rollout of regulations has left parents with fewer viable options, making affordable child care a mere dream. Parents deserve policies which work in their favor, not against them.

This is why we have introduced the Childcare Worker Opportunity Act in the House and Senate. Our bill would repeal the unnecessary education requirements for child-care workers in D.C. By eliminating this barrier, we can reopen the workforce to skilled caregivers who have been unjustly excluded, lower child-care costs and bring relief to families.

This bill is an important step toward changing D.C.’s approach to child care. The city needs to eliminate a litany of regulations that hike the cost of child care without improving quality.

We need to get the government out of the way so families can access affordable, high-quality child care and thrive.