When it comes to public education, 'student failure is our failure' | Tom Campbell

Recently I wrote how government (specifically our legislators) was tipping the scales of fairness through gerrymandering elections. But that same group is putting not just their thumbs but their entire hands on the scales of education.

All but the blind should see the deliberate attempt to dismantle our traditional public schools. Unquestionably, public education has problems, as was evidenced with the release of 2023 reading scores for grades 3 through 8. Only 31.3 percent were reading at grade level proficiency, and 68.7 percent were not proficient. That is not acceptable.

If we want to fix public education, let’s acknowledge there are too many players on the field. Our governance system is a nightmare!

For starters, we have legislators who think they know more about educating our children than do the professionals and insert their opinions (laws) on any topic, any time. Next on the organizational chart is the State Board of Education, 11 politically appointed members, along with the lieutenant governor and state treasurer who may or may not have any educational expertise. Supposedly following directions from legislators and this board is the elected state superintendent of public instruction, who manages the Department of Public Instruction, about 700 state employees who interpret, guide and impose rules and regulations.

There’s more. The collective wisdom (?) of all the above-mentioned people is then shuttled down to the 115 local school districts, each of which also has a locally elected board, a superintendent and, at each school, a principal.

We typically point the finger of blame at the classroom teacher, but this poor (and I use the term knowingly) man or woman is so regulated, so scrutinized, managed and criticized that it’s miraculous Johnny and Janie do as well as they do.

We’ve designed an albatross.

In their frustration, our legislature created charter schools in 1996. Charters were supposed to encourage innovation and use lessons learned to help improve traditional public schools. Charters were given great leeway in admissions, curriculum and regulations. They do not have to provide buses, cafeterias, extracurricular activities and a host of other regulations but -- most especially -- have less stringent criteria on hiring teachers.

The student cohort of charter schools was supposed to reflect the populations in traditional schools, but that has become little more than a wink-wink requirement. Too many are essentially segregated, not just by race but also by socioeconomic and academic criteria. Oversight of charter schools was given to the State Board of Education and, in an effort to hold charter schools more accountable, it recently proposed requiring charters to score within two percentage points on achievement tests of the district in which they are located. Charters rose in opposition of this requirement and the State Board of Education backed down, at least temporarily.

What’s the track record of charters? Mixed. Some are exceptional, but many others have outcomes about the same as traditional schools. Once again, instead of fixing problems our lawmakers created another system – vouchers.

Republicans’ long-dreamed goals were to give every parent a voucher, so children could attend the school of the parents’ choice.

They started with “Opportunity Scholarships” designed so low-income parents could help pay for taking children out of traditional (or charter) schools and enrolling them in private schools. Even Forrest Gump could see this was just a first step in “getting the camel under the tent.” This past session, the legislature approved what amounted to a half-billion-dollar fund to give vouchers to just about anyone who could fog a mirror.

And never forget that with each iteration of “innovations” our lawmakers dictated fewer and fewer rules and regulations than those required for traditional or district schools. Need we require reminding that the rules and regs they are exempting or easing were created by legislators and politicians themselves?

Let’s fix our education system(s).

First, we must streamline the governance structure so that as few people as necessary are in charge. Secondly, we need to level the playing field so that any entity (traditional schools, charters, private and home schools) that receive any state money are playing by the same rules. This would require a top to bottom examination removing untenable rules and regulations. Then we must clearly identify reasonable but challenging performance outcomes expected from each grade level and each course, followed by agreed upon testing systems to determine student achievement. And if we want superior performance in our schools, we must insist on superior teachers and administrators, then hold them accountable.

Finally, the biggest requirement: We will only get the best if we pay for the best. North Carolina has the lowest per-pupil expenditures of any state. Money alone doesn’t guarantee superior performance, but just as a starving child cannot perform well in the classroom, neither can a starving education system. We are getting what we pay for.

There is nothing our state government spends money for that is more important than educating our children. Student failure is really OUR failure.

Tom Campbell is a Hall of Fame North Carolina Broadcaster and columnist who has covered North Carolina public policy issues since 1965. His weekly half-hour TV program, NC SPIN aired for 22 ½ years. Contact him at tomcamp@carolinabroadcasting.com.