North Carolina Puts $11.3 Million Into Child Care Teacher Pay Across 39 Helene-Hit Counties
North Carolina Governor Josh Stein's office announced on November 5 that the state will spend $11.3 million over three years to expand the Child Care WAGE$ salary-supplement program to 39 counties hit by Hurricane Helene. The money comes from a $75 million federal Administration for Children and Families disaster supplement under the American Relief Act, and the state will run the expansion with the nonprofit Early Years Inc.
Three newly added counties - Ashe, Madison and Watauga - open applications in November 2026 with the first supplements paid in spring 2027. Teachers in the other 36 counties become eligible in January 2027 for incentives of about $1,350 per person per year, tiered by education and tenure at the same program, in an effort to keep experienced teachers in disaster-area classrooms.
WAGE$ dates to 1994 and is one of the state's longest-running retention tools: state figures put annual turnover among participants at about 14 percent, against a statewide child care turnover rate of 38 percent. Health and Human Services Secretary Dev Sangvai announced the expansion with Early Years president Kristi Snuggs and state early-childhood leader Candace Witherspoon.
Helene devastated western North Carolina in 2024, and child care programs there have struggled to rehire, leaving families without care and unable to return to work. The Governor's Office says the expansion targets the wage gap first so disaster counties can rebuild capacity to pre-storm levels; county Smart Start partnerships will publish application details.
(Source: Office of the Governor of North Carolina)
Source: Office of the Governor of North Carolina
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图片来源：Wikimedia Commons「File:Raleigh - North Carolina State Capitol.jpg」（P. Hughes 摄，CC BY 4.0） Image: Wikimedia Commons "File:Raleigh - North Carolina State Capitol.jpg" (by P. Hughes, CC BY 4.0)
