THE MOMENT & THE OPPORTUNITY
In Colorado, educator families are confronting a difficult calculation:
Can I afford to continue the work I love while meeting the cost of care for my own young child?
For too many families, the numbers don’t work without additional support.
67.74%
Colorado five-year educator retention rate, nearly 1-in-3 educators leaves the field
$15,000+/year
Illustrative annual cost of early childhood care used in the Fund’s pilot planning
7%
Federal benchmark commonly used to define affordable child care costs as a share of household income
$10,500.00
Illustrative gap between a $15,000 child care cost and a $4,500 affordable family contribution
Addressing a Workforce and Family Stability Challenge
Why Begin With Colorado Educators?
The cost of early childhood care can place substantial pressure on educator families during the same years in which many educators are establishing or sustaining their careers. Some families earn too much to qualify for income-based assistance while still being unable to absorb the full market cost of care.
This is more than a household expense. When an educator cannot find or afford dependable care, the effects may extend to the educator’s employment, the young child’s continuity of care, the school’s workforce stability, and the broader community.
- It is a child care affordability issue.
- It is an educator workforce issue.
- It is a family stability issue.
- It is a community infrastructure issue.
The John and Janet Buckner Education Fund is responding with a defined pilot designed to test whether targeted child care assistance can reduce financial strain, support care continuity, and help educators remain in the work they are committed to doing.
One Investment. Two Generations.
The Partnership is designed to create benefits for both the educator family and the young child while contributing to greater stability for schools and communities.
- Reduced child care cost pressure for participating educator families
- Greater continuity of care for young children
- Support for educators seeking to remain in the workforce
- More consistent staffing and relationships within schools
- Increased access to early care and learning across varied communities
- Practical evidence to guide future investment and program development
The inaugural pilot will examine its immediate and intermediate outcomes. Its size and design will not be sufficient to prove longer-term effects such as kindergarten readiness, third-grade reading performance, or student achievement, but those outcomes remain part of the broader theory of change.
Beyond economics, this is about timing.
“Our family has always lived by the credo: not a handout, but a hand up. This is not simply charity.
It is a targeted investment in educator families and the education workforce.”
– Janet P. Buckner, Founder and President
We welcome engagement with:
1
Research and Evaluation Partners
Organizations and subject matter experts who can strengthen program design, evaluation, continuous improvement, and responsible interpretation of findings.
2
School and Community Partners
School districts, education organizations, early childhood councils, and community leaders who can help the Fund understand local conditions and reach educator families without creating additional administrative burdens.
3
Care Providers and Advisors
Licensed providers, home-based providers, and specialists who can inform participant experience, provider requirements, family choice, safety, quality, and responsible administration.
4
Philanthropic Investors
Foundations, corporations, and individual donors prepared to help fully capitalize, launch, and evaluate the inaugural Partnership.