Workforce efforts ahead of the funding cliff

Welcome back, let's catch up.

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It’s good to be in your inboxes again. The EdNC team took a sabbatical in July — a month jam-packed with early childhood news. Let’s take a look back, and then a look toward the coming months.

The state legislature convened and passed a test-out option for people to qualify to work in early childhood programs.

The minimum requirement to work in a licensed child care program in the state was one community college course. Now people can instead take a test to earn the NC Early Childhood Credential.

Some early childhood advocates and providers are concerned that the change was a step toward lower quality. But others are hoping it will open the field to a larger pool of experienced people, such as teachers from other states, during a period of staffing shortages.

Early childhood faculty members at community colleges are developing this test, along with other initiatives to address both the short-term crisis and the long-term early childhood teacher pipeline issues. They’re working on:

• Early childhood apprenticeships.
• Sped-up courses to get teachers credentialed more quickly.
• College credit for prior learning through a “challenge exam.”

More on what the legislative session meant for early care and education below.

Congress did not act on child care. 

Child care investments did not make it into Congress’s reconciliation package as advocates hoped. The bill focuses on efforts to slow climate change and increase health care access.

Many providers and advocates in North Carolina were hopeful that the federal government’s large-scale investments could have made a big difference for children and families.

Providers are worried about next year.

Without action from Congress, providers and advocates are more nervous about next spring, when stabilization funds that programs have largely been using to increase wages run out. The long session — when the state legislature will craft its budget for the next two fiscal years — is the next chance for more public funding for the system. But we will not have a budget before that funding cliff.

How many programs will have to close, due to staffing shortages or other financial challenges, remains to be seen.

As school starts back, EdNC is hitting the road again.

The EdNC team is visiting all 58 community colleges this fall. We’re focusing on some specific research areas, including early care and education. I’m excited to spend time with early childhood students, faculty, providers — and of course folks outside of early childhood too!

We’ll be asking about how colleges are responding to workforce needs, addressing compensation in the field, and providing child care support to students. I’ll see some of you on the road. For the rest of you, don’t hesitate to reach out with story ideas, questions, or just to connect.

Thanks for reading!