Candidates’ early childhood ideas

Pilots to support classrooms, parents — from Buncombe to Hertford

Early Bird readers, hello again. Newcomers, welcome! If you were forwarded this email, you can sign up here to receive it every two weeks, and join our conversation on issues facing North Carolina’s young children and those who support them. If you’re already a subscriber, please help us reach more people by sharing this with your friends and co-workers interested in early childhood education.

Thank you to the most recent early childhood leaders I’ve had the privilege of learning from, at Sandhills and Coastal Carolina community colleges.

EdNC is more than 75% of the way through our tour of all 58 community colleges, and the team has asked about early childhood teacher preparation and child care needs of students and communities at each stop. Our early childhood team can’t wait to dig through (tons of) information and bring you lessons, stories, and solutions.

Since last time, we’ve got two important stories for you. The first is about five pilots across North Carolina (one in Asheville, three in the Triangle area, and one in Hertford and Northampton counties) aimed at reducing racial disparities in early childhood exclusionary discipline.

My early childhood teammate Katie Dukes has been writing about what we do know (including the harmful impacts) and don’t know (including prevalence in private settings) about early childhood suspensions and expulsions.

Last week she brought us promising models funded by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation (full disclosure: the foundation supports the work of EdNC) that are aimed at addressing the issue with strategies from professional development and smaller class sizes to family engagement and trauma-informed classroom tools.

Second, check this piece out for results from two surveys from organizations asking candidates about education issues, from birth through high school graduation. The North Carolina Early Education Coalition and the Public School Forum of North Carolina asked individuals running for state and federal office their thoughts on challenges facing children, families, educators, and schools. Some themes arose: support for high-quality early learning options, higher teacher compensation, and mental health supports for students. But candidates had a wide variety of responses on exactly how those goals should be reached.

As Election Day approaches, let us know what questions you have around education policies and those who shape them.