The Context of Education in North Carolina

Today We’ll Look At… Just the numbers (i.e., schools, students, employees) The changing face of our students A look at their teachers A brief glance at how we’re doing Examining who pays for what Major challenges facing N.C. schools The impact local officials/citizens can make

Let’s Start With the Numbers 115 School Systems 2,400-Plus School Buildings 1.46 Million Public School Students 163,492 (10.3%) Students in Private or Home Schooling 97,676 Teachers 187,463 Total Number of School Employees

Now Let’s Look at Our Students… 1.46 Million Students 1.4% Indian 2.3% Asian 9.9% Hispanic 31.2% African-American 55.2% White 48.4% Classified as Economically Disadvantaged (Free/Reduced Lunch)

If We Then Look at Teachers It’s a Different Demographic “Average NC Teacher”: white (83%) female (80%) age 42 with approximately 13 years of experience Break in service due to child-care

Let’s Take a Brief Look at How We’re Doing…

NC’s Gains on SAT Scores Lead the Nation

Who Pays for What? Source: DPI, Financial & Business Services, Highlights of the NC Public School Budget, February 2008

Who Pays For What? Federal Funds Provide ($2.84 B) Title I – all programs ($328.6 m) Child Nutrition ($325.0 m) Children w/ Special Needs ($297.0 m) Teacher Quality ($62.4 m) Vocational Education ($21.8 m) Technology Grants ($5.8 m) After School Programs ($20.9 m) Safe & Drug Free Schools ($5.8 m)

Local Funds Provide ($1.16 B) Additional teachers, instructional support & teacher assistants (11,432 positions) Central Office Administrators (33.6% of total) Salary Supplements $5,000+, Average=$1,993, $0) School Construction, Maintenance & Debt Service Utilities, Housekeeping, Technology, & Garage Costs

State Funds Provide ($7.37 B) Instructional Personnel ($4.1 B) At-Risk Student Services ($220.3 m) Children w/ Special Needs ($663.3 m) Transportation ($360.6 m) Low-Wealth supplemental funds ($195.4 m) ABCs Bonus ($70 m) Limited English Proficient ($61.2 m)

School Machinery Act & School Budget and Fiscal Control Act (Responsibilities Are Blurred) State=current expense & programs Counties Paid for 6,621 teachers (7%) 3,052 teacher assistants (10.6%) 2,276 instructional support (17.9%) 437 administrators (25.8%) (16.2% of all personnel) Counties=capital (building & maintenance) State Has Paid $2 Billion for capital outlay since 1995 (25% of the total)

However, We Are A Low Spending State When Compared to Others

The Challenges We Face Are Daunting… NC’s Educational Pipeline: For every 100 ninth grade students…. 60 complete high school 4 years later 41 of those enroll in college 29 of those return to college for their 2 nd year Just 19 receive an associate’s degree within 3 years, or a bachelor’s within 6 years

Then There is Growth… 8.5 million population expected to grow to 12.5 million in 20 years Adding over 25,000 K-12 students per year 4 of 100 counties account for over 50% of the growth 27 counties have lost K-12 students in the last 5 years

Student Performance is Leveling Off or Dropping…

2007 AYP Results In 2007, 44.7 percent(1,036) of all schools met AYP. However, 62.1 percent (1,440) of all North Carolina public schools met at least 90 percent of their AYP targets. Another 19.2 percent (445 schools) met percent of their AYP targets.

Teacher Supply/Demand Issues Continue to Grow Teacher & instructional support personnel in NC grew from 56,000 in to 109,108 in Student enrollment is increasing over 20,000 new students each year and will continue to increase for next 10 years; NC will need 100,000 new teachers over the next decade. 2,106 teachers retired in (86% full benefits, 14% reduced benefits)….represents 16.5% of those that left teaching. The turnover rate in was 12.58%

The Quality Issue… 1/5 th Take Nontraditional Routes to Teaching

And Of Course There is the Economy…

The Office of the Governor (bully pulpit, budget proposals & veto) State Board of EducationGeneral Assembly (budget recommendations; responsible for (power of purse strings rules and regulations, curriculum & testing) & frequently pass educational policies) Local Boards of Education (hire superintendent, propose local education budgets, determine attendance lines, can initiate major changes like year-round schooling or magnet schools or after school programs, determine resource allocations to schools, set local personnel policies, establish goals for system) County Commissioners (power of purse strings; approve/deny school board budget requests; set bond referendums, rarely, but can weigh in on instructional/policy issues) Let’s End this Overview by Looking at Who Does What

While Many Decisions Are Made at the State or Federal Level, Local Officials Decide: Who Will Lead the Schools Resource Allocation (teachers, technology, etc.) Whether Schools Will be Innovative How Schools are Organized Local Accountability Measures Whether to Create Incentives Approaches to Teaching

Decisions in Raleigh and in Washington, D.C. Greatly Impact Schools But… Education Happens in the Classroom, within Schools Local Decisions Shape the Nature of Education They Make the Difference

John Dornan