Blue state governors are pushing Congress on child care as federal subsidies dry up

This story was originally published by The 19th. “This is something that I think should unite all of us, but it's somewhat frustrating that we don't see significant help coming after these child care stabilization grants,” Cooper told The 19th. “It gave rise to the letter and my conversations with members of Congress and our state legislature to step up, because I'm worried that with these grants that we're going to fall off a cliff here — and we're going to make the problem that’s there already even worse.” The United States has historically treated child care as a private market instead of an essential government service, like K-12 public education, and so it has not received consistent government funding and investment. Cooper said North Carolina has used the nearly $875 million it’s received in federal child care stabilization grants primarily toward increasing teacher pay and teacher bonuses to retain child care providers. But the expiring federal cash, Cooper said, means the state will have to “pare back.” Working to retain workers is especially crucial in North Carolina’s rural areas, which face even more dire child care shortages.