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 tenth 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.
The education we provide our children now is supposed to last for decades. We cannot train them for jobs that do not exist yet, but we can provide them with the minds and tools they'll need to adapt to our ever-changing circumstances. – Jim Hunt
The Future of North Carolina’s Public Education System
The threats facing North Carolina’s K-12 public education system are distressing enough. However, it is anticipated that the system will encounter additional challenges in the years ahead, such as the following:
Population growth – while growth rates will vary greatly by county, the overall number of children entering Kindergarten will increase by double digits between now and 2050, and the influx of immigrants and English as Second Language (ESL) students will pose additional academic challenges
Economic change – a dramatically changing economy that will place new demands on our public education system, including a call for new ways to prepare young people for the jobs of tomorrow
Political attacks – the right-wing culture war attacks on public education and similar distractions from real problems will likely continue and could ultimately discredit private schools as well
Extremist legislation – with the GOP’s veto-proof majorities, the NCGA will likely continue to legislate phony solutions to nonexistent problems instead of focusing on serious public education reform
Private school subsidies – expanding the OS voucher program will reduce state and federal funding for LEAs (school districts), especially rural districts with declining enrollment, dramatically increasing the likelihood of public-school cutbacks and closures (especially if public funds are used to discount tuition)
Revenue losses – the proposed GOP tax cuts[i], coupled with a weakening of the Leandro ruling, could reduce the overall state education budget by up to 20 percent not only persuading educators to teach elsewhere, but dooming the prospects of serious public education reforms
These won’t be the only challenges ahead. Others will no doubt arise and each will have to be confronted and overcome.
If North Carolinians fail to come together to combat the threats to public education, the entire system will suffer irrevocable harm. And the school choice movement will run aground on the shoals of poor marketing, mismanagement, malfeasance and fraud.
The ultimate result? A two-tier caste educational system with fewer academic options than there are today. A network of unaccountable private schools for wealthy urban elites and an underfunded, struggling public education system for everyone else.
Those who cannot afford private schools—or denied entry—will be relegated to resource-starved, academically-challenged public schools. North Carolina’s constitutional guarantee of a sound basic education for every child will become a hollow promise. Its vaunted reputation as a great state for enjoying life and doing business will become a distant memory. Its children collateral damage.
Is that the future that North Carolinians want for their children? For their state?
This essay identifies some challenges that could constitute barriers to reform. In the next several essays, we will propose some potential public education reform strategies for consideration.