It’s a telling commentary on the current state of the political debate in North Carolina that advocates for children are hailing the Wednesday decision of a legislative committee on early childhood programs as a victory of sorts.

It’s a reasonable interpretation given the circumstances. The Republican leadership of the committee had floated a proposal to all but completely privatize North Carolina Pre-Kindergarten, the state’s nationally recognized preschool program formerly known as More at Four, and restrict eligibility to the point that almost 10,000 children currently enrolled in the program would no longer qualify.

That prompted a firestorm of criticism from advocates and the administration of Gov. Beverly Perdue, who recently transferred $9 million from child subsidy funds to provide slots for 2,000 more kids in the program.

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