State Board of Education Vision:Every public school student in North Carolina will be empowered to accept academic challenges, prepared to pursue their chosen path after graduating high school, and encouraged to become lifelong learners with the capacity to engage in a globally-collaborative society.
State Board of Education Mission:The mission of the North Carolina State Board of Education is to use its constitutional authority to guard and maintain the right of a sound, basic education for every child in North Carolina Public Schools.
Friday, May 3, 2024
New Director of Legislative Affairs - Lillie Rhodes
Lillie Rhodes joined the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI) in March as the new Director of Government Affairs. Prior to DPI, Lillie worked as the Legislative Liaison for the North Carolina Community College System and as a Judicial Fellow for the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the Honors College at East Carolina University and a Juris Doctor from Campbell University School of Law. Lillie was born and raised in Pitt County and comes from a strong public-school background as her father was a teacher, principal, administrator, and currently serves on the Pitt County Board of Education.
More information about this year's survey as well as results from previous years is available at nctwcs.org.
BestNC | Nov. 2023 - Teacher Pay in North Carolina: A Smart Investment in Student Achievement | YouTube Video - Teachers are the most significant in-school factor for student success and the most important thing we can do to improve our education system is to recruit, prepare, support, and retain great talent for our schools. Executive Summary | Full Report
Where cross-partisan strategies make a difference in North Carolina
Despite the headlines — which often focus on policy changes where there isn’t cross-partisan support, including the adequacy of funding — most legislation passed in a given session continues to have support across party lines and other lines of difference. You can see that if you look through the summaries of all of the education legislation that passed last session.
For example, there continues to be broad support for particular education strategies and initiatives:
The science of reading, including the Excellent Public Schools Act of 2021, which was instrumental in rapidly getting the science of reading into classrooms across North Carolina. See all of EdNC’s literacy coverage here.
myFutureNC’s alignment of policy to the state’s attainment goal. Here are their policy priorities for 2024.
The event — which included representation from each of the state’s eight regions and 25 school districts — focused on the future development of student success career initiatives across the state. Attendees heard from education stakeholders, business leaders, and students themselves about career planning strategies that work.
“What you’re doing today is so important,” said state Superintendent Catherine Truitt. “The earlier that we can get students engaged in career exploration, the more likely they are to find a pathway that interests them, that will engage their natural aptitudes, and lead to a family sustaining career.”
Attending a four-year college directly after high school is not for everyone, Truitt said. Instead, DPI is pushing more schools to push the “three E’s” students can pursue after graduation: Enroll, Employ, or Enlist.
For questions regarding meeting logistics and agenda, please contact nicole.niewinski@dpi.nc.gov. If your board/school has an innovative or exciting program you'd like to showcase, let us know! We are always happy to have schools present to the board.
Education has always been a core mission of the department, but a new initiative, “Learning Happens Here,” seeks to connect the department’s educational resources with students, parents, and educators.
Support for educators
“My top priority is to connect our educational resources to as many North Carolina K-12 teachers and students as possible,” said Secretary Reid Wilson on the department’s website.
Classroom resources for educators include standards-aligned lesson plans, activities, and multimedia experiences, which can be found by visiting the hub #GoOpenNC.
“From A to Z,” says the website, the department “has staff members that can be everything from accountants to zookeepers.” The career exploration program introduces students to professions, and helps them consider “what they like to do, where interests and skills connect, and how they identify themselves within diverse career paths.” The opportunities to learn more includes “Zoo Jobs: More Than You Think,” aquarium job shadowing, internship and volunteer opportunities, and lesson plans.
Key priorities for K-12 education
“The initiative aims to inspire a love of learning, promote unity through shared history, foster science literacy, encourage environmental responsibility, and instill a lifelong passion for reading,” according to the press release. The department’s priorities focus on key areas in K-12 education.
WEBINAR SERIES
Learn on Your Lunch: Bite-Sized Webinars
The myFutureNC team and partners are providing a series of quick 20-minute webinars to dig a little deeper into our newly released 2024 County Attainment Profiles and share best practices taking place right now throughout North Carolina to help local and regional leaders increase educational attainment. See the list of the May webinars on the myFutureNC website.
If you register and are unable to attend, myFutureNC will be sure to share the recording with you.
These webinars will all take place in May on Tuesdays from 12:00 to 12:20 p.m. Register today!
