Smart Start is a public-private initiative funded through both state funds and private donations. Smart Start funding provided by the North Carolina General Assembly peaked in 2000 at $231 million. The state appropriation for FY 2007 is $204 million. Smart Start must raise 10 percent of its funds from non-state sources, including individuals, foundations, corporations, and local and federal sources. Since 1995, these sources have contributed more than $200 million. Donors that have contributed more than $1 million each to Smart Start include the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Bank of America, Wachovia, AT&T, IBM, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NC, among others.

The $40 million decrease in state funding (FY 2002–2006) was due in part to state budget crises that occurred after the state lost 200,000 manufacturing jobs. While Smart Start has sustained some cuts, in 2001 North Carolina added the More at Four Pre-Kindergarten Program. The result has been a net increase over the last few years in funding to support the state’s early childhood programs, although the newer funding is targeted at four-year-olds only.

All state-level decision makers related to young children’s early care and education serve on the North Carolina Partnership for Children state board. In addition, the leaders of North Carolina’s major early care and education programs (Head Start, More at Four, T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood ®, Division of Child Development, Interagency Coordinating Council, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute) meet together monthly to jointly plan and develop policies.

More at Four, the state pre-kindergarten program, has grown each year since the current governor took office. More at Four serves some children in community-based child care centers and Head Start programs, assisting in the child care system’s overall improvement and growth. Smart Start works with More at Four at the state and local levels to serve four-year-olds identified as at risk. Smart Start local partnerships administer the pre-K program in about half the counties and provide additional funding to supplement More at Four funding.

Smart Start’s goal is to support children so that they arrive at elementary school healthy and prepared for success. The North Carolina Partnership for Children (NCPC) oversees local programs to ensure that programs, services, and funds reach the children and families of North Carolina. Every local partnership’s annual plan is reviewed by NCPC staff and must be designed to meet specific performance goals. NCPC is ultimately responsible to the Legislative Joint Committee on Governmental Operations of the North Carolina General Assembly. Local partnerships are subject to auditing by the Office of the State Auditor, and there is a uniform accounting system and independent payroll service for all partnerships. Local partnership performance is also measured through the Performance-Based Incentive System (PBIS). PBIS is an annual performance evaluation system designed to ensure an objective evaluation of Smart Start outcomes and to enable the NCPC to report statewide results. All local partnerships must be evaluated on the same statewide criteria, and there are statewide minimum standards to which each partnership must be held accountable. For each criterion, data sources must be measurable and available for every county.

The Frank Porter Graham (FPG) multidisciplinary research team developed a short- and long-term ongoing evaluation plan to assess results across the widely varying partnerships. FPG provided annual reports to the legislature regarding Smart Start’s overall program and activity outcomes. Among its many positive studies was one released in 2003, which stated that children who attend Smart Start-supported child care centers have better language and math skills than children in centers not participating in Smart Start.

NCPC staff also helped the state Department of Public Instruction create the Foundations for Early Learning Success. These early learning guidelines, released in 2005, demonstrate the skills children should develop from ages three to five; and they are aligned with the state’s K-12 guidelines. Infant and toddler learning guidelines, which will be aligned to the preschool guidelines, are nearly completed.

·         Building a seamless continuum of high-quality early care and education programs and services available to children from birth to kindergarten

·         Continuing to build infrastructure to address key issues across age groups (e.g., qualified teachers and adequate salaries, high program standards, strong supports for families, and high-quality early care and education settings)

·         Keeping advocates and policymakers working on various planning and policy initiatives in North Carolina coordinated and recognizing that early childhood education begins before birth