Children Take Brunt of State Cuts under NC Senate Budget Plan
Early childhood education programs are cut by 25 percent in the budget passed by the North Carolina Senate. This may get us to a balanced budget now, but at what cost? For children, and our state’s future prosperity, it may be immeasurable.
What does this mean for North Carolina?
Today’s children are our future leaders, parents and workers. Our state’s prosperity depends on their healthy development and growth. Yet, these cuts will do anything but.
Your elected officials work for you. Make sure they know that you want them to support funding for early childhood.
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ncchildren.wordpress.com 
Do not vote against our children. Doing so will only put this state below the national average for children education and what they know when moving on. As a military family do on reduce my childrens chances for a better education in NC they deserve more than that. All children do.
Say YES to our children!!! They are our future and deserve the best early childhood experience that we can award. More at Four is a program that positively affects the lives of countless children and their families and has for years. All children deserve the right to positive, educational and meaningful education. All children and families NEED postive experiences and interactions that More at Four and all Early Childhood programs provide. SAY YES TO OUR CHILDREN!! SAY YES TO MORE AT FOUR!!! SAY YES TO EARLY CHILDHOOD!!!
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I plead with you to support the young children of North Carolina. More at Four is an educational program that is making a positive impact for children as they lay a foundation for a healthy and productive school career. Quality instruction and experiences in early childhood pay of economically for the state as these individuals become productive citizens in the workforce.
Please use the economic stimulus funds designated for early childhood as a way to continue educational experiences. These funds need to support education, not as a subsidy for day care.
So much has been wisely invested in the youngest of our citizens. We can’t throw that precious investment away when studies are telling us that we are reaping the benefits in giving the little ones an early introduction to education and socialization. Dollars can lose value but our little humans are priceless and will only grow their value! Whose going to be our leaders tomorrow if you do this now? I urge you to find other ways to balance your budget.
Please say yes to early childhood. The children are our future leaders, and there is enough that will be put upon their backs, from our current economic crisis. There are countless programs that help prepare these little ones for their future. For some of the kids, those programs may be the most stable thing in their lives. Certainly there are other ways the budget can be cut. Please say yes, for all children! We are their voice, crying out on their behalf. Please don’t turn a deaf ear!
Balancing budgets by cutting programs for children is short-sighted, and will be damaging not only for children who lose access to valuable programs, but for the entire state and its future. Please consider using other methods to balance the budget. Funding for children and early childhood education should remain as one of our highest priorities.
Say Yes to Children. Our Programs are ranked #1. Why would you want to change that? Please find another way to help the budget. Taking away from children just isn’t right. Education should be top priority. I have taught preschool for 13 years in NC and it amazes me each day what these young minds are capable of. Taking away a program such as this would be devistating. Making major budget cuts to programs in Early Childhood shows that you don’t believe in the importance of education or of children. Please put the children first.
Please say YES! to early childhood and education in NC. Say NO! no to budget cost in NC early childhood & CMC school system.
Children are our future and deserve early & higher education.
The More at Four program is critical to the success of the population we serve. These are children that have had no prior pre-school experience. The positive growth in these children from August to June is very significant! They grow in the areas of social and emotional skills, cognitive, physical, gross and fine motor, and language. Please do not deprive this segment of our population of this significant opportunity for growth. It is vital to the children and their parents. These children are our future!!
I have been working with More at Four for two years and I feel blessed. The children we work with have many setbacks to overcome before kindergarten, like language, disabilities, or parents who may not always be aware of programs offered for assistance. The children need the year before kindergarten to get help, because if they don’t they will be just another child “LEFT BEHIND!”
These are the children who may decide to give up on the school system, the children who may not get a fighting chance. Please talk to some of the parents whose children have experienced More At Four and see the truth for yourself.
These programs were designed for children who are at risk for not succeeding when they enter the public schools system. Why would you take away a program designed to do something that beneficial for these children? In taking away these programs you would be in essence setting these children up to fail from the first day they enter Kindergaten. In my class alone this year the growth the children have made is remarkable. Over the 50 objectives that each child must individually meet to help ensure success in Kindergarten all areas have improved drastically from Fall to Spring. I have two Spanish speaking children that spoke no English in the Fall. Now, those same two Spanish speaking children are speaking in English more than and sometimes better than my Enlgish speaking students.
It will be a shame and disgrace if More at Four is not kept operating at its present level during this time of econmic stress. The children served by this program have made great strides in learning basic information which prepares them for kindergarten and first grade. Those for whom English is not a first language begin to master instructions from teachers in English, all learn to behave in a school setting preparing them for further learning. Learning challenges are identified early so remediation can be undertaken. It is a wonderful program which helps children who are likely to have academic difficulties succeed and stay in school longer. All are learning numbers, letters, shapes , colors and other basic information which enhances their later learning experiences.
I am writing in support of the More at Four Program. My daughter is a teacher in this program in Wake County and I have learned from her the hardships facing the program. North Carolina has for so long lagged in education and now that we have a successful program for at risk children, we are considering making it a subsidy and/or eliminating the program altogether. One example of success from my daughter’s classroom is the “blossoming” of two Spanish speaking students. When they began they spoke no English and did not interact with other students. Today they are among the more talkative students and interact well with others. They are excited about learning and going into kindergarten. The parents of all the children in her classroom were at first apprehensive about their children’s skill level and whether they would be ready for kindergarten. Their apprehensions have been laid to rest and they are full of praise about what the children have learned and how they look forward to beginning kindergarten. It would be a real shame for NC to set these at risk children up for failure upon entering kindergarten. Let’s search harder and dig a little deeper to find other means of saving money for the state. We need to plan for the future and our children are our future.
This program helped my own two children a lot. It helped prepare them for kindergarten by; teaching them their numbers 1-30, helped them learn to put letters together to form words, and helped them recognize their last name. Now I am a More at Four assistant teacher and the change I have seen in the children in my class amazes me. For example, some of the children could not write or verbally spell their names and now they can. Most of the children in my class did not know their numbers and now they can count 1-100, count by fives, count tens, and count by hundreds. It would be ashame for this program to be eliminated or changed since it works so well they it is currently run.