North Carolina’s strategic public-education plan draws criticisms over academic goals, accountability

A newly released strategic plan from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) may sound ambitious, but it doesn’t specifically focus on academics, according to educational critics.

“If we are to glean the guts of the plan from the eight pillars, I’m not encouraged,” Dr. Robert Luebke told the Carolina Journal. “Where is the emphasis on academic excellence? The topic is not even specifically mentioned in any of the eight pillars.”

Luebke, director of the Center for Effective Education at the John Locke Foundation, took issue with the plan’s lack of details on consequences if targets are missed.

“Where is the accountability for past plans, and past failures?” he asked. “Has the State Board of Education or NCDPI paid a price for missing goals? A plan for correcting those oversights might be a good place to start.”

Eight ‘strategic pillars’

The eight pillars Luebke references include enhancing “community support,” mentioning parents and caregivers; optimizing “operational excellence” in schools; and leading “transformative change” with more innovation and accountability, according to an NCDPI statement.

“The plan also emphasizes character development, with goals to significantly increase schools recognized as National Schools of Character and implement service-learning efforts and comprehensive character education programs statewide,” the statement reads.

By 2030, the plan aims to improve the state’s four-year graduation rate to 92% from its current rate of 86.9% and raise the ACT composite score to 20 from 18.5.

Another key goal, to “lead the Southeast in educator compensation,” comes amid news of teacher attrition rates at 9.88% for 2023-24, the Center Square reported.

“While the report shows improvement in the percentage of teachers staying compared to prior years, there are still far too many teachers leaving the profession,” Superintendent Mo Green said at the time. “We need to do a much better job of keeping them in the classroom once they are hired. That starts with revering these professionals for the amazing job they do and providing them with great salaries and opportunities for growth within our public schools.”

Green, a Democrat, received support from Democratic Gov. Josh Stein over the five-year plan. Stein has called for raising the state’s education budget by more than $876 million for the 2025-26 fiscal year, then another $1.2 billion for 2026-27, according to the Center Square.

“Stein’s budget proposal would raise starting teacher salaries to the highest in the Southeast,” journalists note.

However, increased public-school funding doesn’t always translate to better educational outcomes.

As previously reported by The Heartlander, “high-spending states” such as New York and Vermont had lower test scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) than states spending below the national average – including Texas and Florida.

“It’s hard to have these types of nuanced conversations when some advocates continue clamoring for more money, even in well-funded states and communities,” wrote Chad Adelman for The 74 about the findings.

Meanwhile, public schools must also address the growing problem of chronic absenteeism.

North Carolina marked its percentage of K-12 students missing 10% or more of school days per year at 25% for the 2024-25 academic year.

Although it has fallen from the COVID-19 pandemic high of 31%, the “negative effects on student outcomes are substantial,” the nonprofit myFutureNC warns.