Pre-K director, parent weigh in on judge's ruling

By: Justin Quesinberry | NBC-17
Published: July 18, 2011

RALEIGH, N.C. --

The reality of cuts to the North Carolina pre-kindergarten program is now uncertain.

Judge Howard Manning said Monday that lawmakers cannot limit the number of 4-year-olds participating in what was known as the “More at Four” program. The General Assembly cut 20 percent of that program as part of the 2011 budget. Lawmakers also imposed a co-pay for parents of most kids participating.

Some Republicans are questioning the legal legitimacy of the ruling. The House Speaker is working with the Attorney General to see if there is way to appeal the ruling. Meanwhile, Gov. Bev Perdue is calling on lawmakers to fix the problem without cutting any other educational programs.

“I don’t know what difference it will make at this point,” said Katherine Hutchens, director of the Jordan Center in Raleigh where kids attend the NC Pre-Kindergarten program.

She said she hopes the judge’s ruling sticks, especially as it applies to fees parents may have to pay.

“That’s the piece that I’m hoping will be impacted most significantly by this ruling,” she said.

If the ruling doesn’t impact fees, parents could have to pay up to 10 percent of their income to participate in the program. Hutchens said she fears that would prevent children from being able to attend NC Pre-K, even if they get a slot, and ultimately damage the impact of the program.

“That will in turn, number one, cause kids to drop out. So, you’ll have kids coming and going all year long, which means then that the program won’t have an impact because you won’t have an opportunity to spend a full year with children. You’ll have a lot of kids who just come in for a short period of time, so in another 10 years when they study the program, they’ll say, ‘Oh no, it didn’t have an impact’ because it wasn’t functioning the way that it should have,” she said.

Sherell James sent her son to More at Four last year.

“With him going here, I mean he learned a lot. Spelling his name, his ABCs. It helped him out really a lot,” she said.

At that time, the program was free. With fees, she might not have been able to participate.

“I don’t think I would have been able to do it because the expense of how things are with other things, it just wouldn’t have been affordable,” she said.

In Wake County last year, 1,413 children were served in 1,239 slots (the difference is due to child transition), according to Wake County SmartStart. This year, due to the cuts, there are 142 fewer slots, according to the agency.

Statewide last year, 31,000 attended More at Four. The cuts would mean about 4,000 fewer would be enrolled, according to the DHHS director who will oversee the program.