Learning lessons from Forsyth pre-K effort

'State issues that have tremendous local implications'

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I’ve been talking with educators, advocates, parents, and community leaders in Forsyth County since April about their effort to establish universal pre-K. It’s a local story that has lessons for communities across the state with a similar goal — as well as for state leaders making choices about early childhood policy and funding.

For seven years, a coalition of local early learning organizations called The Pre-K Priority has been looking inside and outside their community for best practices to expand pre-K and educating people about its importance. With a new task force, parent voices, and cross-sector partners, the same people who have been on board since 2014 are hoping the community can reach a shared vision over the next year.

“We don’t need to convince people that pre-K is important,” said Don Martin, chair of the task force, a county commissioner in his second term, and former superintendent of the school district. “We need to figure out, you know, what does it look like? Where’s it gonna be? I mean, we got to get down to some operationalizing.”

Their journey to this point has revealed the importance of parent and community representation, the complexity of pre-K, and how statewide inequities affect pre-K access.

“These are state issues that have tremendous local implications,” said Bob Feikema, president and CEO of Family Services, a nonprofit organization that administers the county’s Head Start program.

I’m excited to tell this story — click here for the first piece on the group’s seven-year journey and here for the second piece on the inequities the effort has highlighted — and to watch the group’s discussions continue to evolve. Respond to this email with any questions and consider sharing the two articles with your early childhood network.

Below, don’t miss updates from the state Senate’s budget proposal and the early childhood legislative task force. Thank you for reading and engaging.