Should Day Care Be A Public Right?

Many schools across the state were closed Monday because of the latest winter storm. That meant another snow day for kids and for many parents, a scramble for child care — from handing the kids off to a friend or family member or working from home, or just skipping work altogether.

Either way, it's the latest reminder about the challenge and cost of daycare. According to the think tank New America and Care.com, families in Massachusetts pay an average of $1,100 a month for full-time day care. But what if day care was a public right?

Joanna Weiss, contributor to The Boston Globe and author of the novel "Milkshake." She tweets @joannaweiss.

Barbara Beatty, author of "Preschool Education in America: The Culture of Young Children from the Colonial Era to the Present" and professor of education and chair of the Education Department at Wellesley College, which tweets @wellesley.