Each Child. Every Community.

Yesterday, Governor Bev Perdue called on the General Assembly to restore the three-quarters of the one-cent sales tax that was eliminated during the last legislative session and dedicate those funds to education.

In response, Dr. Olson Huff, Chair of the Board of The North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc., released the following statement:

“North Carolina is known for investing in its people and recognizing that economic development begins with early childhood development. Our state’s early childhood work has produced enormous education, health, and economic results for the state. We see it in higher third grade reading and math scores, decreased special education placements, and lower dropout rates. We see it as a factor when businesses decide to move here and when magazines name our region as one of the best places to live.

With renewed investment, we can make children, families, communities and economies stronger. This is critical in today’s environment, where there are more children birth to five, more of those children are living in poverty, and far fewer resources are available than a decade ago. Since 1990, there has been an 85% increase in the number of children living in poverty. At the same time, funds have declined— most significantly during the last legislative session when early childhood education taking a disproportionate cut, meaning today far fewer children and communities are benefitting from needed early childhood services.

Any new public resources must be invested wisely. In the words of Dr. Andrew Meltzoff of University of Washington Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, ‘There are only 2,000 days between the newborn baby and when that child will show up in kindergarten. . . Our children can’t wait.’

Together, we can provide the early education, health and developmental resources parents need to raise capable children and successful adults. In doing so, North Carolina will attract businesses, grow jobs and guarantee prosperity.”