Beth Bye, a former state lawmaker and current head of the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood, is retiring from her role beginning Oct. 1.
Bye’s long tenure in public service includes spearheading the state’s major child care expansion, which will be implemented in the coming years. Now, she’s pursuing a master’s degree in social work for a new path: providing mental health care to young kids.
“My 25 years in elected and appointed office have been so rewarding,” Bye said during an appearance at a public school in West Hartford Thursday. “But I'm really ready to return to the children and families who inspired this work for me at the beginning.”
Bye has been in the early childhood care world since 1980. And in her time as a state legislator, she led the work to create the Office of Early Childhood. Gov. Ned Lamont appointed her commissioner when he took office in 2019.
This past session the legislature approved a multi-million dollar early childhood endowment, which this fall is funding hundreds of new public preschool spaces around Connecticut. Under the plan, state officials hope to make early childhood education free for families earning up to $100,000 a year by 2027, and charge a sliding scale for people making over that amount.
Lamont thanked Bye for her advocacy to push the child care plan forward, and to strengthen Connecticut's struggling child care system.
“What an incredible six and a half years,” Lamont said. “You see that reflected here: you see that in the fact that we have hundreds of additional slots starting up now, thousands starting up in less than a year. And we are just getting started.”
Deputy Commissioner Elena Trueworthy will take over Bye’s role on an interim basis beginning Oct. 1, and vowed to keep up the agency’s momentum.
“We will continue to listen to partners and to advocates and to families and take what they're saying to us and adapt to what we're doing to improve,” Trueworthy said.
Lamont said he plans to nominate Trueworthy to permanently fill the commissioner role.
