Saving North Carolina’s Public Education System
How to Stop Those Who Would Betray the State’s Children and Future
As part of its work on public education in America, Civic Way is taking a closer look at one state—North Carolina. This is the 12th essay in Civic Way’s series on North Carolina’s primary and secondary education system (see the last essay). The author, Bob Melville, is the founder of Civic Way, a nonprofit dedicated to good government, and a management consultant with over 45 years of experience improving public agencies.
In the US, we believe the best way to improve lives is to improve public education.
– Bill Gates
Strategies for Reforming North Carolina’s Public Education System (cont.)
We have outlined the major deficiencies of North Carolina’s K-12 public education system and the most critical threats to its long-term viability. In the essays that follow, we have presented an agenda with several public education reform strategies for the consideration of all North Carolinians.
To ensure a sound education for all—the state’s constitutional duty—North Carolinians must work together. Not one party, but both. State and local leaders. Not just metro areas, but small rural towns and counties. A diverse state with divergent views must overcome its differences to build a public education system for everyone.
1. Embrace Public Schools as Community Anchors.
It is time to recognize Local Education Agencies (LEAs)—more commonly known as school districts—for what they really are in so many communities—indispensable institutional anchors. In many areas, they are so much more than centers of learning or collections of public schools, they are the beating hearts of their communities.
The state should define LEA responsibilities more broadly. In addition to public education, many LEAs already provide other services, such as nutrition, emergency aid and meeting space. In small towns, LEAs or counties may be well positioned to house many other services (e.g., (e.g., childcare, public health, counseling, English language, technology, job training and information referral). Our laws and policies should be revised to reflect that reality.
In smaller areas, counties may employ LEAs to help them deliver certain services needed by local residents. To determine those service needs, the state should fund counties to build and maintain a neighborhood outreach network. That network should periodically survey residents and report community needs (e.g., housing, health and nutrition). It also should serve as a hub for dispensing information and available benefits to the community, including educational options.
The state should provide sufficient funds to LEAs to organize their community resources. For example, LEAs should establish a community coordinator for the district and, depending on the district’s size, for every school. Every LEA should establish a community foundation to help it navigate market and revenue volatility; the DPI should provide technical assistance to help districts establish foundations and raise private funds and designate neighborhood centers.
In addition, LEAs should expand local partnerships (e.g., nonprofits, philanthropists, and businesses). They should organize community action teams—with civic leaders, business leaders, citizens, employees and parents—around all aspects of school affairs (e.g., governance, learning, community service and facilities). LEAs and their partners also should launch structured public volunteer and parental engagement programs and community activities (e.g., nature walks, craft fairs, book clubs, discussion cafes, family-style luncheons, creative workshops, equipment lending libraries and litter pickups).
2. Support LEAs as Community Advocates.
If we want to find the fight fit for our children, we must equip every LEA with the tools they will need to help their parents navigate the options. This will require, at a minimum, three elements—an expanded role for LEAs, clear parental advocacy and strong local marketing capacity. More below.
The NCGA should clarify the LEA’s role for helping ensure every student is afforded the most appropriate educational option. This will likely continue to mean public school for most students, but in some cases, it may mean other options. Expanding the OS program without assigning this role to LEAs could encourage counter-productive competition for kids and the money they bring. We should charge LEAs with this vital role of helping parents find the best academic option for their children.
As advocates for parents and their children, LEAs should help parents navigate the daunting decision of finding the right school for their child. They could do this in a number of ways. A parental resource center and hotline. Online planning and application assistance. Training videos. Regular parental surveys. A school rating tool that parents can use to rate academic options using their own criteria (the DPI should develop a digital tool with a menu of school choice criteria[i]).
The state must invest in developing basic LEA marketing capacities. Such capacities should enable LEAs to track public and private enrollment (as well as pre-school population), conduct market research, maintain a current database of private school options, refer suitable educational alternatives to families and, as appropriate, promote public school options. DPI should provide technical marketing assistance to LEAs, including marketing training, private school rating tools and enrollment forecasting tools[ii]. Smaller LEAs may employ multi-LEA joint ventures to attain this goal.
This essay recommends that public schools be rebranded as the community anchors that they are, and that the state fund local school districts for serving their communities, families and parents. In the next several essays, we will offer other potential public education reform strategies that could be part of a broad reform initiative.