Darnella, how long have you served on the Durham PreK Governance Committee, and how would you describe your role in the Committee’s work?

I’ve been with the Durham PreK Governance Committee since the first year, when we started our work. In the beginning, I was so excited about being a part of this because it was like a culmination of my career and what I wanted to see early childhood evolve into. We've been trying to get free pre-K for families for 20 years, so to see where our city put an investment into young children and said, “We want to continue to invest in young children. We want to set a standard for our state and other states, and this is important to us,” was huge. I work in this field, you know, true early childhood, born and bred. This is all I've done, and to see it go from where we had to fight to even be recognized as teachers, to go from that babysitter or caregiver phase to educator, and now having research and dollars put behind it is like, “Okay, you guys are doing good work. And this is what we deem important.”

It's got to feel great to see that.

And you know, another thing, when COVID came, [child care] became for the first time frontline work. We were essential workers, and we had never been treated like we were essential to the community and commerce for people around the nation and the world. We had never been portrayed as being essential. When they came up with that term, a lot of childcare providers were really angry, like “Oh, now you make us essential workers, when we’re in the middle of this crisis.” But you know, we did it. It made us more resilient. 

I was really going through a lot of mental challenges when it first happened because that was the first time I felt like my business could fail. As an entrepreneur, you really set the trajectory for your business. It’s set for your family, because this is how you take care of them. So you can manage that space by making good choices, saving your money, making wise decisions, wise investments, and when that no longer was something that was in my control, I was having a really hard time with it. It was just a really, really scary time. But we came back to work. We committed to doing what we love, and it has given us a resilience that we probably would have never known.

You know, I'm real proud to have been a part of an organization that really committed to my values and my belief systems. I just think this is important. It's just been some great, important work. [The Committee] has been so instrumental and pivotal for providers [when we] had to navigate that difficult space with COVID. I’ve been a real advocate, trying to bring in some stabilization before stabilization grants to ensure that [Durham PreK providers] got paid for enrollment as opposed to attendance, because none of us could really control what was going on in terms of parents making choices not to bring their children. I think [COVID] really highlighted some of the brokenness in the child care system. We learned that the system was broken, badly fractured. Sometimes when you do something every day, you don't realize until something hits or something tragic happens, “how have we been doing this this long with it this way?”

Your work in child care over the last 30 years has afforded you a breadth and depth of perspective on early care and education. You’ve worked as a child care provider, the DSS subsidy program administrator, and as a child care business owner. How has your experience in these varying roles informed your work on the Durham PreK Governance Committee?

It’s brought such a wealth of knowledge and experience. I didn't really realize all that I had learned and all that I had experienced. It made it easier for me to articulate to the other [Committee] members, allowed me to paint a really good picture for them. When I explained things, they got it. And so, you know, I'm grateful for that.

So you felt like you really had the respect and the ear of your colleagues on the committee when you offered your direct experience with being a childcare administrator.

Yes. Just having firsthand knowledge of the child care industry and entrepreneurial piece, even the diverse populations and just different things, I felt valued with my work and my words because I knew I represented the people that I was supposed to represent well, that I had their voice. I'm really adverse to people making decisions about a group of people when we haven't gotten their input. What you may think will help, I may not think myself.

You bring up a really good point, that it's important to incorporate the voices of people who are experiencing whatever problem you’re offering to solve. How would you say Durham PreK has incorporated feedback or voices from families or from the community? How has the program embraced that idea that stakeholders are being heard?

They've brought more [voices] and not just race and other big areas, but different fields, the business world. They also have started having conversations with the providers when they make changes. [There was] resistance to a kind of top-down leadership. That's the old model, without any input. They've restructured by talking with providers individually, letting them know prior to a change where the boundaries are, like “This I can't change. This is mandated from the state. And this is where I might have flexibility.” You know, education is key. I think they've done a great job educating the provider community, to be clear about the boundaries of what are their flexibilities and what aren't. And that's going to open up further dialogue. You know, to continue to highlight things like that, it's going to continue to lead us down a path of transparency and unity. We still have some work to do in that area. I want to see more growth in that for all of us. We all want the same thing.

All four Durham child care facilities you own have earned 5 stars under North Carolina’s star-rated license system, in part for earning maximum points in education standards. And three of your facilities are part of Durham’s universal pre-k system. As someone who clearly places value on both teacher education and service to preschool children, could you comment on how teacher education supports high quality and prepares children for kindergarten?

An environment where you have an educated teacher who understands how early care and education benefits young children, you cannot do it successfully without that. That's the magic sauce. A really good teacher will take a child who's not learning, who hasn't been in that type of learning environment, and can see a way. That's the beauty of really good teachers, [they] open up a world of education and discovery to children. We know children learn through play. We know about the social emotional piece. We know about the creativity. We want children to be ready not only to succeed in this environment but in the next. 

Good teachers are very important. We meet the educational requirements and I’ve probably got more teachers with Bachelor’s degrees, and they've been with me forever, but the beauty of that is that I've been able to see them see their potential and put them on a path for future development. We're trying to make sure that we take advantage of programs like the stabilization grants so we can pay these people, because they’re leaving for $1, $2 [per hour], but you can't expect them not to when food cost has gone up so much, gas has gone up so much, and the cost of living has gone up so much.

We’ve got to have more support. There are some good programs coming out where teachers can get credit for college education for their experience at work, and they can move into cohorts to get their CDA [Child Development Associate®) credential]. I'm pleased about where we're headed with the education piece. It’s crucial. You can't do it successfully without good, educated teachers.

You’ve seen pre-k in Durham grow from the ground up. What elements of the program do you feel could serve as a model for communities who are just beginning to break ground on a local universal pre-k system?

I actually see the entire program, not one piece of it over another, as groundbreaking work – every aspect of it. With the local communities and the county commissioners invested in child care, it's like, way out there. Having it where the more educated, experienced teacher, you have to pay that person more because their wages are determined on that scale, is a game changer. It will cause us to be able to keep and attract talent. Having that extra incentive, that extra support, for the determination for wages was really groundbreaking and essential to the child care industry.

So the local county investment and the provision that well educated teachers are well compensated are critical pieces.

Yes. And they give a supplement to programs that have teachers that have been working, say, 15 years and she gets paid $50,000. Well, that's going to hurt a program, but look at the wealth of experience [that teacher brings] to that program. So with having this supplement, we’re able to attract and keep those good, experience teachers.

Is there anything else about Durham's universal pre-K program that you think could help other communities who are trying to get started, other than what you've mentioned?

I like that Child Care Services is the point of entry because of their long standing history and advocacy in the community. They have the infrastructure and the good name and the support that's needed to really champion this. So having the local CCR&R being the driver feels very in tune and grounded with the community.

So in addition to dollars invested by the county as well as teachers rewarded for the education they bring to the classroom, it sounds also like having a strong, well-rooted child care advocacy organization take up the mantle is a big piece.

Very crucial. They know the community. They’ve had a successful tenure with advocacy. It brings a credibility to it that is unmatched.

Durham County’s investment in universal pre-k has come far in the first few years. What have been its biggest successes and what might be the next areas of growth as the program continues to develop?

The biggest success is that it brought something to fruition that we had worked on for the last 20 years. The biggest success was the investment itself, you know, and the commitment to making this a priority.

Where do you imagine things being five to 10 years from now?

Let's say in five years maybe we could start to say that we have gotten a pulse on some of the learning loss that took place [during COVID]. In 10, I hope we have totally revamped this whole system. I see committed providers and I see committed programs taking on that charge.