¹ú²úÊÓƵ

One does not compile a report spanning 10 years and crisscrossing a mountainous state without immense help and input from others. I am incredibly grateful to the people connected to Vermont and Let’s Grow Kids for sharing their experiences and time with me: Michele Asch, Senate Pro Tem Phil Baruth, LouAnn Beninati, Hannah Burnett, Lucia Campriello, Sherry Carlson, Jerusa Contee, Jesse Coutrayer, Rick Davis, Cailtin D’Onofrio, Michelle Fay, Noah Futterman, Tere Gade, Dimitri Garder, Anna Gebhardt, Jen Horwitz, Sarah Kenney, Sen. Jane Kitchel, Lisa Klein, Speaker Jill Krowinski, Tom MacLeay, Janet McLaughlin, Adam Necrason, Rebecca Ramos, Aly Richards, Erin Roche, Buzz Schmidt, Michael Seaver, Emilie Tenenbaum, Lisa Ventriss, and Shayla Zammuto.

I would like to thank the three external readers who provided thoughtful commentary and feedback on earlier drafts: Julie Kashen, who recently served as senior fellow and director for women’s economic justice at The Century Foundation; Erin Roche, Vermont director of First Children’s Finance; and Aaron Loewenberg, senior policy analyst with the Education Policy program at ¹ú²úÊÓƵ. Thank you to Natalie Graham for her fact-checking and Christina Bellantoni for her editing. Thank you to Lisa Rab for her work on the corresponding toolkits. Thank you to my team at Better Life Lab for their edits, guidance, and assistance: Brigid Schulte, Elliot Haspel, Haley Swenson, Haley Farley, and Eve Tahmincioglu. Thank you to the communications and graphics team at ¹ú²úÊÓƵ for their time and care with this report. And a final thank you to WeVision EarlyEd and Let’s Grow Kids Action Network for their support for this report.

This story was reported over several months, based on interviews with over two dozen people involved in the passage of Act 76. I began reporting on Vermont’s child care campaign in 2021 and conducted three on-the-ground reporting trips to have a firsthand view of how the changes from Act 76 were impacting the state’s child care system. Unless specifically noted, the interviewees confirmed their stories, and in several cases, multiple sources verified the information and scenes that took place. In some instances, reporting for this publication was initially published under my byline in Fast Company, Early Learning Nation, The 74, and EdSurge.