August is for Advocacy! Although Congress is not in session, now is a great time to ask our federal Congressional representatives to support additional funding for high-quality early education. It is important that they hear from early education advocates when they are back home in their districts. Many Congressional leaders will hold listening sessions, or you can contact their home district office to let them know what’s on your wish list for early education.
North Carolina has two representatives in the United States Senate and 13 representatives in the United State House of Representatives. These Congressional leaders provide the majority of funding for early education in North Carolina, particularly for Child Care Subsidies, Head Start and Early Head Start.
During the 2016 Congressional session, national early education organizations implored Congress to expand early education funding for Child Care Subsidies, Head Start, Early Head Start and Pre-K. Although both the Senate and House agreed to additional funding, it fell far short of what is needed.
Here’s how you can help:
Thousands of North Carolina’s children and families rely on federally-funded programs to access high quality early education, and there are more than 20,000 children on the child care subsidy waiting list in our state right now. Your elected leaders need to know early education is important to you and your community. Let’s all work together to increase support for early education and ensure that all of North Carolina’s young children have bright and promising futures!
*If you find the NC Child Care Coalition’s Action Center to be a helpful resource, please consider making a donation to save it!
