Perdue order adds to NC pre-kindergarten battle

By EMERY P. DALESIO
Associated Press

RALEIGH, NC (AP) — Gov. Bev Perdue is stepping into a battle over North Carolina’s efforts to prepare all 4-year-olds for school.

Perdue on Wednesday ordered the Department of Health and Human Services to offer pre-kindergarten education to all eligible 4-year-olds without saying how the state would pay for a potential flood of thousands of children.

The state’s More At Four pre-kindergarten program last year served about 32,000 4-year-olds. An agency survey found there may be nearly twice that number of eligible children.

A Superior Court judge ruled last month that the state is required to serve any 4-year-old deemed at risk of falling behind their peers.

Legislative Republicans wanted to cut spending on the revamped program by 20 percent and charge parents a co-payment of up to 10 percent of their income.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)