Jun
09
2022
“Early childhood is a public good and needs to be invested in”, Teri Talan, Senior Policy Advisor to the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership
Early childhood professionals met at the final 2022 Smart Start Conference Featured Session to discuss...
Nov
18
2021
Child care is an essential service for North Carolina families, ensuring parents can work while their young children learn and grow. However, the child care industry has been heavily affected by the pandemic. The reality of low pay for...
Oct
28
2021
by Lisa Familo, Executive Director, The Iredell County Partnership for Young Children
The Need
COVID-19 has exposed the fragility of our early education workforce, all of which predated the arrival of the pandemic. Early childhood educators are the workforce behind the...
Oct
21
2021
by Amy Cubbage, NCPC President
Along with our partners at The Hunt Institute, Smart Start hosted a roundtable this week with leaders from the White House and the U.S. Department of Education. There weren't TV cameras or microphones; no podiums...
Oct
06
2021
by Amy Cubbage, President of The North Carolina Partnership for Children (NCPC)
Too many of the professionals who care for and educate our youngest children receive wages that aren’t nearly enough to make ends meet. Many work without access to...
Aug
25
2021
This is an article written by Amy Cubbage, President of the North Carolina Partnership for Children (NCPC) and originally running in the Perspectives section of the EdNC website
North Carolina families are stressed. They are tired. They are worried for...
Jul
29
2021
“Working in ECE begins a route to poverty for many”
- Dr. Ashley Williams, Center for the Study of the Child Care Employment.
Smart Start conference attendees joined together to explore challenges facing the early childhood workforce, actions being taken by...
May
28
2013
Between 2011 and 2012, more child care center directors, teachers and family child care providers have increased their levels of education, according to a study by the Child Care Services Association. The 2012 North Carolina Child Care Workforce Study
The...