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Early Bird by EdNC

An Early Bird summer summary

Early Bird returns to the nest after a vacation

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. 

Members of the North Carolina Task Force on Child Care and Early Education discuss the group’s next steps in its August 2025 meeting. Liz Bell/EducationNC

Liz and I sent Early Bird on a little summer vacation, and now its back with an overview of what’s been happening in early childhood at the state level the last eight weeks.

The North Carolina Task Force on Child Care and Early Education released its interim report at the end of June, which contained key findings and initial recommendations. You can read the full report here

The group met again on Aug. 4, breaking into work groups that will focus on workforce compensation and supports, finance and funding, and child care and early education for public sector workers before the next full meeting on Oct. 6. You can read our coverage of the August meeting here

Also over the summer, the General Assembly passed legislation that loosens staffing requirements for programs and credential requirements for teachers, which you can learn more about here. Gov. Stein signed the bill into law. 

When the legislation came up at last week’s task force meeting, Sherry Melton, a lobbyist for the North Carolina Licensed Child Care Association (NCLCCA), said, “We of course have said repeatedly, session after session, that more investment is needed, but they asked for regulatory reforms, and so we brought them everything we could think of that wouldn’t undermine quality or safety.”

The mini-budget passed by the legislature this summer did not include additional funding for early childhood care and education.

In July, Child Care Resources Inc. (CCRI) launched an interactive North Carolina Child Care Map, saying in an emailed press release:

Economic, workforce, and community development leaders, along with child care investors and ECE stakeholders, can utilize CCRI’s interactive map as a critical instrument for visualizing hyper-local data, revealing child care gaps across the state. This robust resource not only offers insights at the neighborhood level but also enhances understanding of socio-economic factors affecting child care accessibility, empowering stakeholders to identify areas in urgent need of attention and optimize resource allocation accordingly.

I’m excited to add this new tool to EdNC’s tool belt, and for other early childhood stakeholders statewide to do so as well. Check it out here.

There’s lots more to catch up on below, including: a new teacher substitute pool in New Hanover county, a must-read Profile in Care (seriously, it made one of our editors cry), lessons from the military for solving our state’s child care crisis, and an on-going series of literacy briefs from the NC Early Childhood Foundation.

More from EdNC on early childhood

Early childhood substitute teachers are hard to come by. A private funder is changing that in New Hanover County

This May, New Hanover County’s first early childhood substitute teacher from a new centralized substitute pool worked a shift at...

Profiles in Care | Commander Koski knows ‘if your child’s not OK, then you’re not OK’

EdNC is highlighting the experiences of educators, families, researchers, and advocates with a stake in North Carolina’s early care and...

Lessons from the military for solving North Carolina's child care crisis

The U.S. military faced a new threat to national security toward the end of the 20th century. This threat affected...

Brief | Lessons from the classroom on implementing science of reading

Editor’s Note: The first brief of an eight-part series from the North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation is embedded below on...

Brief | Science of reading and the paraprofessionals in the classroom

Editor’s Note: The second brief of an eight-part series from the North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation is embedded below on...

Brief | Lower and upper elementary — Attending to both sides of the reading rope

Editor’s Note: The third brief of an eight-part series from the North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation is embedded below on...

Brief | Aligning science of reading practices across core content, exceptional children, multilingual, and AIG program educators

Editor’s Note: The fourth brief of an eight-part series from the North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation is embedded below on...

Brief | Creating a master schedule that maximizes the literacy block

Editor’s Note: The fifth brief of an eight-part series from the North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation is embedded below on...

Ten education issues to watch at the start of the school year

One big budget bill and 181 executive orders into the Trump administration, one thing is clear for those of us...

Gov. Stein addresses early childhood task force, calls child care 'necessary infrastructure' for disaster recovery

Western North Carolina’s child care network continues to recover from Hurricane Helene, which devastated the region close to a year...

The Leon Levine Foundation expands to $2 billion

Learn more about the foundation’s next phase of impact, and meet Russ Altenburg, the program director for education, who sees...

Legislature loosens child care staffing requirements, looks for other cost reductions without new funding

State lawmakers passed legislation this week to change child care regulations with a stated goal of expanding child care access...

NCDHHS releases toolkit with information about childhood vaccines

Summer may have just begun, but as families prepare for a new school year, the N.C. Department of Health and...

NC Institute of Medicine shares 15 recommendations to promote positive childhood experiences 

The North Carolina Institute of Medicine (NCIOM), in collaboration with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS),...

Chirp! Chirp! Opportunities to share your voice

We’d love to know what y’all were up to while Early Bird flew the coop this summer (I’m having way too much fun with the bird puns in this edition). Respond to this email to let us know!

The big picture for little kids

Taking flight! Opportunities to spread your wings

Tell Us What You Think: NC Child Care Crisis Film - From NC Child

From NC Child: Late last year, the Neimand Collaborative launched Take Care, a short documentary that brings our child care crisis to life through the voices and stories of North Carolina families, child care teachers, businesses, and community leaders. Whether you watched the documentary, joined screenings, partnered in outreach, and/or downloaded the Take Care toolkit—or none of the above—the Neimand Collaborative wants to hear from you! Please take a few minutes to complete this short survey by midnight on August 14. All responses are recorded anonymously. 

Setting Up an Effective Classroom Environment - From Healthy Social Behaviors Helpline

Tuesday, August 19 | 7-8 p.m.
Meeting Link: https://ccrinc.zoom.us/j/3677997738
Meeting ID: 367 799 7738

From HSB Helpline: Join us to talk about ideal ways to set up your classroom, daily schedules, how to organize centers, making rules, and job charts. Join us in the discussion of strategies to use in the new year. A free, talk-to-the-experts webinar, presented by Healthy Social Behaviors Helpline advisors!

2025 NCAEYC Annual Conference Registration Now Open - From NC Association for the Education of Young Children

From NCAEYC:

Featured Keynote Speaker: North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Rachel Hunt

A Conversation that Connects Generations, Sectors, Roles and Experiences: Sharing a Commitment to Getting Things Right for Children Birth through Eight, their Families, and Our Field

Group and student discounts available. Space is limited.

Questions? Contact Chris Butler at [email protected]

 

Katie Dukes

Katie Dukes is the director of early childhood policy at EdNC.