Blueprint for Education

 

North Carolina’s public school system is in need of fundamental reform. While education spending continues to grow, key measures of student progress demonstrate that the system is not adequately serving our state’s children and families. State funding for education has increased by $3.5 billion since 1998 and 32 percent over the last six years. Setting aside increases for population and inflation, nearly $2 billion has been spent over 20 years on initiatives exclusively aimed at making schools better. Yet even as the state continues to spend billions of dollars on education, K-12 education expenditures as a percentage of total state expenditures have actually declined since 1990 – going from 48 percent to 41 percent. If the reasons for this decline are complex, the reality is that: 1) the state is going to have to spend its education dollars more wisely; and 2) there is a growing disconnect between education spending and education results.

 

The facts speak for themselves:

X  One-third of elementary and middle school students are below grade level expectations in such basic subjects as math and reading. More than half perform below national standards.

X  The percentage of schools meeting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) standards for No Child Left Behind fell to 45 percent in 2007. By contrast, the national average was 74 percent.

X  SAT scores for North Carolina students have remained flat for six years. 2007 SAT scores declined four points from the previous year and trailed the national average by 13 points.

X  White and Asian-American students continue to score consistently higher than Hispanic and African-American students on standardized tests.

X More than 50 percent of African-American students are performing below grade level in math and reading.

X Only 69.5 percent of North Carolina students graduate high school in four years. For African-American students, the four-year graduation rate is even lower: 61.4 percent.

X  The state is under a court order (Leandro v. State) to redress problems at 20 chronically underperforming schools or find new schools for the affected students.

 

 

Reforming North Carolina’s school system requires embracing a new vision for our children’s future. This vision is grounded in the values of accountability, access, innovation and success.

 

Success: We need schools that recognize that students – as well as employers in North Carolina – define success in different ways.

 

Accountability: We need a public school system that is truly accountable to parents and citizens.

 

Access: We need diverse educational opportunities that give students access to programs and schools tailored to individual needs.