This case study looks at how North Carolina has used collaboration and creativity to advance compensation initiatives for early educators despite a divided political landscape.
We draw on first-hand interviews with early educators and members of state agency and advocacy organizations, plus extensive background research to tell the story behind the headlines.
Since the 1990s, North Carolina has been an early leader on compensation and financial relief initiatives for the early childhood workforce. This is most notably seen in the various targeted wage supplements they have established to advance educator pay.
Most recently, they used federal ARPA funding to offer optional Compensation Grants to programs to raise base pay and/or to provide bonuses to staff, while also encouraging them to use a model salary scale that advocates developed.
All of this has been accomplished in the context of an increasingly conservative legislature and governance that is divided along political party lines.
This case study is the second in a series of case studies on state advancements on early educator compensation. Visit our website for more information on our Bold on Early Educator Compensation Learning Community project.
Suggested Citation
Dade, A., McLean, C., Muñoz, S., & Chávez, R. (2024). Collaboration and Creativity Despite Constraints: North Carolina’s Decades-Long Push for Early Educator Compensation. Early Educator Compensation Case Study Series. Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, University of California, Berkeley. https://cscce.berkeley.edu/publications/case-study/compensationcasestudy-northcarolina/
