County-by-County Figures: Governor Cooper’s Smart Start Expansion Funding in Your Area Understanding the Local Impact of Governor Cooper’s Investment in Smart Start

In his budget proposal, Common Ground Solutions for North Carolina, Governor Cooper proposed adding $15 million to the Smart Start program, a public private partnership focused on early childhood health and education. Cooper’s recommended increase would be the first state-funded increase in the program since 2008 and it would provide for increased support and flexibility at the local level to improve outcomes and better prepare children for school.

New data released today show how each local partnership would benefit from the expansion of the Smart Start program.

“Investing in our kids by supporting programs like Smart Start should be a bipartisan priority,” said Governor Cooper. “Education doesn’t start on the first day of kindergarten, and expanding Smart Start will help more children across the state get the support they need to show up at school ready to learn. I hope legislators will join me in pushing for adequate investment in this critical program.”

Today, Governor Cooper will speak at the National Smart Start Conference in Greensboro, where he will emphasize early childhood education as a priority and articulate an ambitious agenda to make North Carolina a Top Ten Educated State by 2025. Included in that goal is increasing the enrollment of 4-year-olds in a pre-kindergarten program from 22% to 55%.

Here’s a look at how much additional funding every local partnership would be allocated under Governor Cooper’s plan: