Back in 2018, we at the Scene pointed out three struggles in the childcare ecosystem: scarcity, high costs for parents and providers, and low pay for teachers.
Mayor Freddie O’Connell hosted a press conference at Fannie Battle Day Home in East Nashville Friday, signing legislation aimed at quelling those ongoing issues by easing barriers to opening new childcare centers.
Councilmembers and mayor target zoning requirements and permitting process to address child care deserts
Spearheaded by District 6 Councilmember Clay Capp, the two pieces of legislation will remove a 1,000-foot buffer requirement between daycare facilities and also remove a requirement for childcare providers to secure a special exemption from the Board of Zoning Appeals. Another piece of legislation related to family childcare centers from District 20 Councilmember Rollin Horton is set to pass in May, O’Connell said Friday.
As O’Connell puts it, this legislation would move childcare permits “to the front of the line” — a setup he compared to affordable housing incentives.
“This isn't just a childcare problem,” O’Connell said Friday. “It's a workforce problem, and ultimately an economic and family and household problem, because when a Nashville parent can't find care, it is much harder to go to work. But when we get this right, people keep their jobs. They advance professionally. Their families are healthy. They stay, and that's a win for the whole city.”
The Nashville Early Education Commission, an advocacy organization formed in 2024, also announced plans to launch a childcare workforce scholarship pilot this year. The pilot would help childcare providers pay to put their own children in childcare.
While many childcare centers were able to stay afloat during the pandemic due to an influx of American Rescue Plan dollars, early childhood education for low-income families is sustainable only with ongoing public investment, according to a July report from United Way of Greater Nashville in conjunction with the Nashville Early Education Coalition. The report also found that most childcare providers are not paid a living wage.
At the state level, a goal for state Sen. Charlane Oliver (D-Nashville) going into this year’s legislative session was to tackle regulatory barriers for childcare centers. While a bill that would have enacted universal pre-K failed, Oliver was able to pass legislation that seeks to eliminate duplicative inspections, expedite the review process for permits and cut down on regulatory fees, among other process changes.
Centers struggle with regulation costs, and a report calls for sustained funding
When asked about ongoing public investment, O’Connell said Friday that it’s hard to dedicate funding without state support.
“We're constantly looking at tools with partners at the state and in jurisdictions across Tennessee to see if we can unlock some more tools like that,” he said. “State legislators, the executive branch have gotten a little more focused on housing affordability. We're hoping to drive some more focus on childcare so we can more seriously consider that.”
Fannie Battle teacher Jennifer Hearn and executive director Kristie Ryan, both subjects of a 2023 Nashville Scene cover story, spoke during the press conference as well. Fannie Battle serves 140 children per year, ages 6 weeks to 10 years old. The majority are from low-income families, and take part in a sliding-scale payment program. The center relies on philanthropic dollars to survive, according to Ryan.
“When people hear 'childcare,' they often think of it just as a business like anything else,” Ryan said Friday. “When costs go up, you simply raise tuition rates, or you find other ways, or you cut staff. We can't cut staff. ... The other challenge we have is we want to be able to make sure our teachers can afford to live in Nashville. That's harder and harder, but we can't just pay them more, because that would require us to raise tuition rates, and the math doesn't math on that.”
Jennifer Hearn, a teacher at Fannie Battle, says the field still experiences high turnover rates, and she’s seen teachers come and go in a span as little as one month.
“In my 18 years in education, I've seen teachers get overlooked, underpaid,” Hearn said. “I have colleagues who love this work just as much as I do, and they're very great at it, but it's sad when they have to make the choice to leave just because they can no longer afford it, leaving for jobs such as retail stores, warehouses.”
