Early childhood Coverage

North Carolina ranks 29th in public pre-K enrollment, new report shows

More than 21% of North Carolina's four-year-olds enrolled in the state's pre-kindergarten programs during the 2022-2023 school year, up from the prior year but still below the state's pre-pandemic highs, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research.

Paul Specht and Emily Walkenhorst, WRAL state government reporters

NC child care model "unsustainable," approaching fiscal cliff, leaders caution

The state's top child care regulator warned lawmakers Tuesday that child care in North Carolina could become a lot harder to find unless they take action to avert a coming "fiscal cliff."

Laura Leslie, WRAL Capitol Bureau Chief

'We have a problem': Childhood fentanyl deaths in NC hit record high in 2022

Data from the North Carolina Child Fatality Task Force indicates nearly three dozen children under the age of 17 died from fentanyl in 2022.

Brian Murphy, WRAL News

Fact check: How much does U.S. spend on early education compared to other nations?

Economist and former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich decried to his 1.4 million Twitter followers how relatively little the United States spends on early childhood care. PolitiFact checks his claims.

Tom Kertscher, PolitiFact reporter

How a student's early education experience impacts their future

Early childhood education plays a major role in a child's development. At Cresset Christian Academy, students are able to build a strong foundation that they can rely on through high school and beyond.

Abbey Slattery, WRAL Digital Solutions

Parents back plan for free Pre-K, wish it could happen sooner

Some parents and teachers in the Triangle are sending a message to the White House about its plan to provide free Pre-K for all children for two years.

Matt Talhelm, WRAL reporter

MARY ANN WOLF: Early childhood education, care and support

Monday, March 29, 2020 -- According to research released before the pandemic, only half of all N.C. parents were able to access any type of center-based or formal early childhood care. Six months into the pandemic, that rate fell to less than one-in-three. The analysis finds that "households of color face more early education challenges: the care they rely on is lower quality, with fewer employer supports; and the pandemic has disproportionately impaired their access to child care." For our economic recovery and future prosperity, it is imperative that North Carolina takes swift action to ensure all of our children are well cared for and well prepared for academic and social success.

MARY ANN WOLF: Ensuring all N.C. students read on grade level by 3rd grade

Monday, March 22, 2021 -- The state has focused on early literacy explicitly for many years, but the efforts have not led to the results we want as a state overall with only about 57% of our children reading proficiently in the third grade in 2018-2019. Many are looking to address this gap.

Project Enlightenment is offering virtual sessions to help parents of young children

Project Enlightenment, a fantastic resources for families in Wake County with kids who are kindergarten age or younger, is offering some virtual sessions for families in October.

Sarah Lindenfeld Hall, Go Ask Mom editor

Editorial: Protests' call for change needs to be addressed with action

Thursday, June 18, 2020 -- The voices from the streets aren't just a complaint that it seems all too often being black in America is a crime. Four hundred years of institutionalized racism has allowed our governments bureaucracies to treat black and brown communities as less entitled - subjecting them disproportionately to the ravages of natural disasters and the impacts of pandemics, such as the COVID-19 crisis we are in the midst of now. The time to end this discrimination is now. Theirs is a call for action.

NC gets big federal grant for child programs

State to get an extra $56 million over seven years for more training for early childhood educators and health care and support for families.

Travis Fain, WRAL statehouse reporter, & Matthew Burns, WRAL.com senior producer/politics editor

Cooper announces federal early childhood grant

Gov. Roy Cooper says North Carolina has won a $56 million federal grant to boost the state's early chilldhood health and education programs.

Project Enlightenment celebrates 50 years of helping kids, parents, teachers

For 50, years, Project Enlightenment has prepared young kids to learn, guided parents on how to raise them and instructed teachers on how to guide them.

Adam Owens, WRAL anchor/reporter

House debates changes to elementary reading program

The House takes up proposed changes to the Read to Achieve program, which aims to have all students reading at grade level by the third grade.

Editorial: Legislators need to follow Cooper's lead on early-child funding

Wednesday, June 19, 2019 -- North Carolina's children, particularly those most vulnerable because of poverty or geography, are being left behind. Their opportunities to become successful learners are diminished. Legislative leaders can show their "good faith" to negotiate over the budget by publicly committing to fully-fund what Cooper has outlined as the state's pre-K needs.Investing in early childhood education makes sense. It makes kids better learners and leads to more opportunities for their futures.

Report: NC ranks 33rd in child well-being, made 'mixed progress' on health, poverty, education

North Carolina has seen a boom in its youth population, with 2.3 million children currently living in the state, but "greater investments must be made to programs that promote children's health and development, school success, and family financial stability, such as expanding access to early childhood education," according to a new report released Monday.

JUSTIN PARMENTER: N.C virtual pre-K pilot driven by stereotypes, not data

Thursday, June 6, 2019 -- All North Carolina children deserve access to a Pre-K program where they can work with qualified human teachers and peers to develop communication and collaboration skills that will make for a smooth transition to kindergarten. Our budget priorities should reflect our belief that they deserve it.

Study: NC boosts pre-K funding and enrollment, but needs to expand access

North Carolina has increased state preschool funding and enrollment, but access has hovered at 23 percent of 4-year-olds - below the national average, according to new research released Wednesday by the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Red Hat, SAS leaders push for more slots for students in NC Pre-K

In response to a study out of Duke University that shows pre-kindergarten helps children succeed at least through eighth grade, a group of North Carolina CEOs has pulled together a series of recommendations to give that advantage to more students.

Debra Morgan, WRAL anchor/reporter

CEOs: Good Pre-K a sure way out of poverty

SAS CEO Jim Goodnight is passionate about Pre-K as a path out of poverty.

Mark your calendars: Project Enlightenment Foundation to sponsor talk on how early caregiver-child interactions shape development

The talk is part of the Peggy Hibbert Enlightenment Speaker Series, which honors Dr. Peggy Hibbert and her work supporting families with young children.

Sarah Lindenfeld Hall, Go Ask Mom editor