IT'S UNIVERSAL.

• Position: NC TREND: Pulse: News and insights

In a politically fractured country, state-funded preschool is one subject where conservatives and liberals find common ground. Pre-kindergarten enrollment reached an all-time high last year in the U.S. as funding rose 8% to about $7.4 billion, a $564 million increase. In North Carolina, about 27,019 children participate in NC Pre-K, the state-run program that prepares 4-year-olds for school, while nearly 5,000 are on a waiting list. State lawmakers have pledged...