Governor Says Proposed Early Childhood Cuts Too Deep

Gov. Bev Perdue sent a letter to House Speaker Thom Tillis and Senate leader Phil Berger outlining objections to legislative budget proposals.

Read the entire letter.

North Carolina Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton Sends Smart Start Call to Action

North Carolina Lt. Governor Walter Dalton has long been a supporter of Smart Start, travelling across the state to learn firsthand how the program benefits families and communities. In his latest newsletter, he puts out a call to action asking Smart Start supporters to call their legislators and protect the award-winning program. Below is a portion of his newsletter.

As the General Assembly considers their proposed state budget, I have been speaking out in support of Smart Start, the state’s award-winning early childhood program using public-private partnerships. I held forums in Greensboro and Durham and met with parents, child care providers, and business leaders to hear how Smart Start is positively impacting these communities and our state.

In 1993, Governor Jim Hunt and the General Assembly had the vision to create Smart Start, which provides education, health services, and family support to children in all 100 counties. In 18 years, the program has helped hundreds of thousands of children and families in North Carolina.

This year, some members of the General Assembly have proposed severely cutting funding for – or even eliminating – Smart Start. The House budget calls for a $37 million reduction in funding for Smart Start (20% of its state funding) and the proposed Senate budget goes even further by cutting the public-private partnership that administers the program. These cuts would jeopardize North Carolina’s continued success in economic development and job recruitment and hurt our children’s future.

One of the reasons Smart Start has been so successful is its establishment as a public-private partnership outside of government bureaucracy. Backed by the state’s top business leaders, it not only harnesses taxpayer funds, but it also leverages private funding.

I understand that we are facing unprecedented budget difficulties. However, it would be very short-sighted for North Carolina to threaten our future economic success and each child’s personal success by inordinate cuts to such a successful and productive program. If properly funded, our state’s investment in early childhood education will yield an extraordinary return that will pay decades’ worth of dividends.

Take Action: contact your Senator and Representative and urge them to protect Smart Start!

Military Support Liaison Says Military Families Rely on Smart Start

“Military families are geographically separated from the support systems that may be in place in their hometowns. These supports include: grandparents, relatives, friends, and neighbors. Smart Start has helped military families develop support systems in the military communities by leveraging resources, empowering young and new parents, educating early child care providers, and by embracing these “families away from home” as their own. It is appalling that a state which claims to be the most military friendly would allow for such a disservice.

Speak up North Carolina!! Take a stand for the families who sacrifice while their loved one serves. Take a stand for the child who naps at a quality child care facility with a pillow of a loved one in uniform printed on the pillow case. Take a stand for the young military families who contribute and support their adopted communities, even during times of tremendous strain. North Carolinians know that Military Children serve too!”

-Shannon Shurko, Miliatry Support Liaison, Cumberland County Schools, (and military wife and mother)

The Committee for Economic Development Says Proposed Senate Changes to Smart Start “Do Not Make Good Business Sense”

Charles Kolb, president of the non-partisan, business-led Committee for Economic Development in Washington, DC, drafted a letter in reaction to North Carolina’s proposed senate budget, which would dismantle Smart Start. Below is a portion of the letter:

“Given North Carolina’s leadership, I am surprised to read of proposals now coming from your State Senate to eliminate funding for the North Carolina Partnership for Children and to cut substantially administrative and program funding for local-level Smart Start partnerships.  That just does not make good economic sense. Why tamper with a model that works? If you don’t believe what you hear from other states, listen to your own Duke University where officials there affirmed earlier this year that Smart Start is making a difference.

Almost all our states face tight budgets. They have to make choices and set priorities– just like households and businesses. But investing in our children really is a business issue. We need workers. We need child care for workers. We need education for our future workers. We want educated citizens who can sustain our democracy. North Carolina legislators must not be pennywise and pound foolish. Funding for Smart Start is an investment in the short- and long-term future of North Carolina and our country. A significant cut in or elimination of Smart Start and the state and local partnership infrastructure that sustains these programs makes absolutely no sense at all and is definitely not good business sense.”

Read the full letter here,Committee for Economic Development Response to Proposed Dismantling of Smart Start.

NC Senate Dismantles Smart Start

Statement on the Senate HHS Budget Proposal by Dr. Olson Huff, Board Chair of The North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc.

 “I fear for the well-being of the children of our state. In one fell swoop, the Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Committee announced a plan to destroy years of early childhood progress that has raised third grade outcomes and given thousands of children an opportunity to succeed.  

In an elaborate shell game that claims savings without really doing so, the committee effectively killed the state’s nationally recognized early childhood system, Smart Start.

Abolishing Smart Start is the wrong direction to go on education. You can’t get older children to perform in school by taking resources from younger children — at the very time that their brains are being hard-wired to learn. 

Earlier this year a Duke University study showed that all North Carolina third-graders have higher standardized reading and math scores and lower special education placement rates in counties that received more funding for Smart Start when those children were younger. What’s more, they found that Smart Start raises the academic achievement of all children in a community, whether they were in child care or not.

The Senate’s proposal to rob the state of this vital program is poor education policy and poor economic policy. This is hardly a growth strategy for our state.  The state’s youngest children are taking the hardest hit.”

North Carolinians Speak Out in Support of Smart Start

North Carolinians support investments in early childhood education. The comments below are from postcards that have been delivered to North Carolina legislators.

Early childhood education is important to North Carolina because:

“Government, like families, should make the right kind of investments and sacrifices to meet the needs of our children. Our welfare as a society depends on it. Our state will lose economic productivity and competitiveness if we do not ensure high quality education and health for our children now. We cannot plow under the seedling and expect a harvest.”

–Deborah D., Chapel Hill

“Children are an investment in our future. I work with early educators who are seeking to further their knowledge and education to better serve the children of NC. This program, however, is being cut. This results in less support and assistance for early educators. My position is being eliminated. This impacts not just educators, but also my family. I’m a single mother of two boys.”

-Jennifer, Western NC

Sanford Area Chamber of Commerce Asks Representative and Gov. Perdue to Invest in Smart Start

Last week the Sanford Area Chamber of Commerce sent letters to Rep. Stone and Gov. Bev Perdue asking for continued investments in Smart Start. The letter begins:

“The Sanford Area Chamber of Commerce is writing to support North Carolina’s early childhood initiatives and the public-private Partnership concept. As business people, we understand the challenges presented by this year’s state budget.  Many of us have had to make difficult decisions; applying stern cost/benefit tests to every aspect of our operations. It is our firm belief that when this measurement is applied to North Carolina’s nationally recognized Smart Start program and other initiatives involving young at-risk children, the state’s investment produces a positive return.

We request that early childhood programs not receive disproportionate cuts which impair their ability to serve these young North Carolinians who represent our future workforce.”

It is still a critical time for early education advocates to reach out to legisaltors. Contact your senators by visiting http://capwiz.com/ncchildren/directory/statedir.tt?state=NC&lvl=state and ask them to maintain funding for Smart Start.

North Carolinians Tell Senators Why Early Education Matters

Why is early childhood education important in North Carolina? Smart Start posed this question and North Carolinians answered.  Below are just a few responses that were hand-written on postcards that are being delivered to Senators this week.

“Without strong early education, children in schools won’t meet standards in school, fail to graduate and continue higher education, the pool of qualified persons applying for jobs reduces, and workplaces aren’t as efficient and productive. Without early childhood education, our country is facing the ‘trickle-up deterioration of society.'”
– Adrienne R., Burlington, NC

“No one who enters a race that forces them to start behind the start line can effectively compete and win. Our economic and social futurend depends on how ready our youngest citizens are to begin the race at the start line because isn’t a single perosn race–it’s a relay in which we all must participate as a team.”
-Andrea T., Wilmington, NC

“Children who attend quality early childhood programs are more successful in public school. They are ready to learn and need less remediation to proceed. Reduction of funding to Smart Start and More At Four would put thousands of young children at risk of failure in future educational areas. Parents in low income areas will have fewer options for care to be able to work. For the state ecomony to grow, citizens must work!”
-Cheryl S., Canton, NC

NC Lt. Gov. Calls for Support of Early Childhood Education

Lt. Governor Walter Dalton speaks out on behalf of early childhood education and Smart Start. He calls on policymakers to support Smart Start.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce Calls Investments in Early Education “Smart Economic Decision”

April 26, 2011

Dear Senator Berger and Representative Tillis:

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce would like to express its support for North Carolina’s Smart Start program. We understand that this year’s state budget presents a tremendous challenge, and that many programs are facing unprecedented cuts. It is our hope that North Carolina’s nationally recognized Smart Start program will not receive disproportionate cuts nor be severely curtailed in its ability to serve children, families, and their communities.

Investments in early education are a smart economic decision. The Institute for a Competitive Workforce (ICW), a project of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reported, “[R]esearch shows that for every dollar invested today, savings range from $2.50 to as much as $17 in the years ahead.”

Not only do these early investments benefit young children, these programs allow North Carolinians to work. In North Carolina, 59% of all children under six live in families where all parents work, and each year, early learning programs allow 380,000 parents in our state to work.

Smart Start has been instrumental in increasing child care quality since its inception in 1993 and has grown into a nationally recognized model noted for its sustainability, quality, structure, and breadth. Preliminary research released last month by Duke University found that investments in Smart Start generate broad educational benefits. For example, the researchers found that North Carolina third-graders have higher standardized reading and math scores and lower special education placement rates in those counties that had received more funding for Smart Start and More at Four when those children were younger.

Here in Orange County, Smart Start is administered by the Orange County Partnership for Young Children. The Partnership’s role in monitoring, training, and supporting Smart Start programs grows in scope every year. With 16 funded programs, reaching more than three-thousand children a year, the Partnership supports direct service providers (DSP) in maintaining excellence and looking at how they can improve their programs through collaboration.

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce and Smart Start both share a goal of building an educated work force that will enhance our community and quality of life for all. A solid investment in early education to support childhood development and working families not only helps a child develop into his or her potential, but also strengthens our economy and community.

We urge you to consider the important economic and educational role that Smart Start plays in local communities – including right here in the greater Chapel Hill community – and across North Carolina, and encourage you to strive to maintain this valuable program that has wisely invested in our most important resource – our future generation.

Sincerely,
Aaron Nelson
President and CEO
Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce
cc: Rep. Verla Insko
Rep. Joe Hackney
Rep. Bill Faison
Sen. Ellie Kinnaird
Sen. Bob Atwater
Thank You

Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce

2011 Chamber Officers
Marc Pons, Chair Chapel Hill Tire Car Care Center
Barry Leffler, Vice Chair 1360 WCHL
Chris Barnes, Treasurer First Citizens Bank
Bob Saunders, General Counsel
Brooks Pierce, L.L.P.
________________
2011 Board of Directors
John Anderson, Wells Fargo
Fred Black, Black Star Strategies
Lew Borman
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NC Anthony Carey, The Siena Hotel
Millie Chalk, Duke Energy
Chris Derby, The UPS Store
David Dickson, TSI Healthcare
Joanne Fiore, Past Chair, AICPA
Mariana Fiorentino
Terra Nova Global Properties
Valerie Foushee
OC Board of Commissioners
Dr. Brian Goldstein UNC Hospitals
Pam Herndon, State Farm Laura Kiley, Kiley and Associates Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt
Town of Chapel Hill
Peter deLeon, University Mall
Scott Maitland, Top of the Hill
Richard Mann, UNC Chapel Hill
Torin Martinez, UNC Health Care
Molly O’Neill, Duke Medicine
Greg Overbeck
Chapel Hill Restaurant Group
Dr. Neil Pedersen
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools
Roger Perry, East West Partners
Pat Phelan, Edward Jones Investments
Leslie Walden, Fidelity Investments
Zach Ward, DSI Comedy
Briggs Wesche, A Southern Season
Jerry Whortan
Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA
Paige Jennings Zinn, Jennings
________________
Professional Staff
Simone Brackett (919.967.7075)
Member Relations Specialist
Meg Branson (919.357.9977)
Vice President, Membership
Laura Morrison (919.357.9989)
Program Director
Aaron Nelson, IOM (919.967.7077)
President and CEO
Kristen Smith (919.357.9988)
Member Engagement Coordinator
Abby Spoon (919.967.7076)
Director of Business Development
Sam Teabout (919.357.9975)
Finance Manager