NORTH CAROLINA, April 30 - Today Governor Josh Stein joined the Smart Start Conference in Greensboro to highlight his priorities for child care and early education. Governor Stein also urged North Carolina’s federal delegation to oppose efforts to eliminate the Head Start program.
“Programs like Smart Start help North Carolina’s children live up to their full potential,” said Governor Josh Stein. “Federal proposals to eliminate the Head Start program are wrongheaded. Investing in our kids is investing in our future – and I'll take that return every time.”
Today Governor Stein, Lieutenant Governor Hunt, and Superintendent Maurice “Mo” Green sent a letter to Congressional leaders, including North Carolina’s federal delegation, laying out the consequences of proposals to eliminate the Head Start program. There are more than 19,500 children in North Carolina who rely on Head Start and Early Head Start for high-quality child care, access to health screenings, and healthy food to prepare them for school and beyond. Head Start brings over $290 million in federal funds directly to local economies in North Carolina, supporting more than 5,600 jobs across local agencies, private nonprofit child care centers, and school systems. If federal Head Start funding were to be cut, as many as 500 child care programs that operate Head Start and Early Head Start may close. North Carolina is classified as a “child care desert” for infant and toddler care, where on average, five families with babies are competing for every available licensed child care slot.
In March Governor Stein launched the North Carolina Task Force on Child Care and Early Education. The task force seeks to identify solutions to expand access to affordable, high-quality child care and early education across North Carolina and to support and grow the early childhood education workforce. Governor Stein remains committed to ensuring that North Carolina’s children are able to learn and thrive in safe, nurturing, and supportive child care and early education settings. Investing in child care will also support parents and employers by reducing the number of people who would otherwise be pushed out of the workforce due to lack of child care.