Tagged: Pre-Kindergarten

Former Democratic Congressman and state schools superintendent Bob Etheridge is traveling the state with the group Progress North Carolina to speak out against several education bills before state lawmakers.

In Charlotte Thursday, he criticized a bill that would end the policy of limiting kindergarten through third grade classes to 24 students.  He also said cutting the income eligibility for the state’s pre-kindergarten program would hurt many kid’s chances of graduating. 

Some child advocates are unhappy with Governor Bev Perdue’s decision to add thousands of pre-kindergarten slots because it’s at the expense of other programs that impact children like foster care.  It also transfers money from the AIDS Drug Assistance Program.

A couple weeks ago, Perdue announced the state was restoring some of the cuts to its pre-kindergarten program.  She planned to shuffle money around to add an extra 6,300 spots.  Groups that work with children applauded the move.