Residents Urged to Get Involved

City Councilors Ayanna Pressley, Michelle Wu, Andrea Campbell, and Annissa Essaibi George are to be congratulated for starting a series of meetings on the issues of early childhood education and childcare in Boston.

The fear that Boston is a city not welcoming to families is becoming a real possibility.

Whether one looks at the rents now being charged for apartments or the flight of families from Boston to surrounding communities such as Revere, there clearly are signs that there are major problems that need to be addressed in order to attract, and keep, families in our city, and the councillors’ year-long series will look at these issues.

Residents are needed to voice their opinions, ideas, and experiences on the subject and we urge residents to contact these councilors.

The following is the list of tentative meeting dates:

Essaibi-George will kick off the meetings on Feb. 27 at 6 p.m. in Horizons for Homeless Children, Jamaica Plain, 1705 Columbus Ave., to speak about childcare and early education for children who are homeless.

Other meetings are as follows:

• March, (Pressley) Community-based providers, Catholic Charities/Laboure Center, Time TBA
• April, (Wu) Funding Childcare, Tuesday, April 11, 6 p.m., Location TBA
• July, (Pressley) Non-traditional work hours, Tuesday, July 18, 3 p.m. in City Hall.
• September, (Essaibi-George), transition to school, Thursday, Sept. 14, 1 p.m. in City Hall.
• October, (Campbell), Geography and Access, Thursday, Oct. 12, at 6 p.m. Location TBA.
• November, (Wu), On-site Childcare, Thursday, Nov. 16, 3 p.m., in City Hall.

The solution is for the future, but the planning must start now.