HUFFINGTON
08.26.12
SMART START?
a low, cinder-block building with
a big backyard. What’s unusual is
Ms. Sabrena’s classroom. Of the
100 or so children enrolled at the
school, eighteen of them—those
in Ms. Sabrena’s care—are part of
something called North Carolina
Pre-Kindergarten, a free state program designed to ensure that every child in the state is ready for
kindergarten by the age of five.
In recent years, a number of
studies have shown that preKindergarten programs can help
low-income children succeed in
later grades and eventually get
good jobs. Many researchers feel
that investing in pre-K is the best
and most cost-effective way to
lift children out of poverty and
to build up the economy. As one
child care advocate in North Carolina put it, “There are only 2,000
days between the time a baby is
born and the time she shows up
for kindergarten and her experiences in this time will determine
how her brain is wired.”
Education experts all around the
country have cited North Carolina’s
system as one of the best examples
of what states can do to ensure a
bright future for children deemed
“at risk” of struggling in school.
The state funds not just one but
two related programs. While the
first, North Carolina Pre-Kinder-
Sabrena
Robinson is
a preschool
teacher in North
Carolina, a state
with one of the
best child care
systems in the
country.