Connecticut Early Childhood Commissioner Beth Bye, a longtime champion for child care in the state, is stepping down.

Bye has led the agency that she helped create as a state senator for more than 6 years.

“My 25 years in elected and appointed office have been so rewarding, but I'm really ready to return to the children and families who inspired this work for me at the beginning,” Bye said on Thursday.

As commissioner, Bye championed the state’s new Early Childcare Endowment to help low-income families pay for pre-k.

“I think it was 1995, there's a picture of me in the Stanford Advocate with my one-year-old on my back with a sign asking for worthy wages,” Bye said. “The fight has been that long. And now in 2027, in Early Start programs, childcare workers will be paid on par.”

Bye said

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