Given the long-term benefits of high-quality child care to children's cognitive, social, and emotional development, commonwealth and federal policymakers should continue to promote quality, access and affordability. Massachusetts policymakers should also prioritize efforts to attract and retain high-quality educators by continuing to build upon recent bipartisan efforts to increase the early education rate reserve. Nearly three-quarters of children under the age of six in Massachusetts have parents or a single parent who works outside the home, and many of these children may not be in high-quality child care. Support for high-quality child care is an investment in our future national security. (author abstract)