A project of ISAIAH is Kids Count on Us is a coalition of community-based childcare providers, teachers, and families from across the state of Minnesota. We believe that all children have the right to high-quality and culturally relevant early care and education. That’s why we do community and political organizing towards a fully funded childcare system that centers the voices of childcare providers and families. Full funding includes living wages for teachers, resources for centers, and access to care for all families- no matter where they live or what’s in their wallets.

Kids Count on Us has a vision of a childcare system that is fully funded. To our base, this means:

• No family pays more than 7% of their income for childcare.
• Childcare teachers and early childhood professionals make wages and benefits at least on par with K12 educators.
• All families have access to the kind of culturally relevant, affordable childcare they need, in a mixed delivery model system.
• Childcare providers, teachers, and families are centered in the decision making that happens about them at ALL levels of government.

During the 2022 legislative session, we championed bills to fund Child Care Assistance to make more families eligible, raise rates for providers, and eliminate waitlists, which Governor Walz and Lieutenant Governor Flanagan proposed in their budget. We also supported continuing childcare stabilization grants which have been invaluable in keeping providers afloat during the pandemic, also proposed by the Walz-Flanagan administration. While the House was in support of these spending priorities, the Senate chose not to use any of the $9.3 billion surplus to fund programs that benefit all Minnesotans. We have also been fighting for over 2 years to create a state-level Department of Early Education.