NC Newsline – The North Carolina State Board of Education has approved a five-year strategic plan to make the state’s public schools the best in the nation by 2030. The ambitious plan sets targets across eight key areas for the state’s 1.5 million public school students.
The “Achieving Educational Excellence” initiative establishes what officials are calling “best in nation” benchmarks. These include matching the highest-performing state’s four-year high school graduation rate and composite ACT scores. Specifically, the plan seeks a 92% graduation rate and an average ACT composite score of 20 by 2030. As of 2023-24 school year, North Carolina’s adjusted four-year graduation rate is 86.9%, and the average ACT composite score is 18.5, placing the state 10th among 17 states and Washington, D.C. where 75% or more of high school students take the ACT.
The plan also seeks to increase participation in Advanced Placement courses, dual enrollment, and career and technical education. It aims for a 30% AP participation rate in the advanced courses and a 75% AP exam pass rate with a score of 3 or higher by 2030. In 2024, 21.5% of North Carolina’s students in grades 10-12 took at least one AP exam, and 65.4% earned a qualifying score of 3 or higher, according to the report.
Last school year, students in the state earned a record-high 358,069 Career and Technical Education credentials; the plan calls for increasing the number earned yearly to 500,000 by 2030.
“This plan is bold, ambitious and deeply intentional,” said Geoff Coltrane, senior director of government affairs and strategy at the Department of Public Instruction. “It sets out a commitment to our students, our educators and the entire state of how we’re going to make sure that our public school system is the best in the nation.”
The plan was developed after a statewide listening tour by state Superintendent “Mo” Green that included eight regional meetings, 16 school visits and input from more than 5,000 residents, including 1,000 educators. The plan was further refined with feedback from universities, community colleges, local school boards and education associations over a two-month revision period.
The goals of the plan are organized around eight pillars, including preparing students for life after graduation, supporting educators, and ensuring safe learning environments. A key focus is on recruiting, retaining and compensating educators. It sets a target to raise beginning and average teacher salaries to the highest in the Southeast. The plan also proposes establishing a State Board of Education task force to create a more transparent educator licensing system with multiple pathways into the profession, including apprenticeship models and mentoring opportunities.
For students, the plan focuses on character development alongside academic achievement. It notes that character education is currently not measured uniformly across the nation and that a new student-centered metric will be developed. The plan also calls for expanding school-based health services and implementing “community school” models that connect families with local resources.
Several board members praised plan, including the outreach process that shaped it.
Board member Dr. Olivia Oxedine also praised the plan but raised several concerns, including costs. “How much is this plan going to cost?” she asked? “We may not have the exact figures today… but if we could get somewhere in the ballpark, I think that would be important.” Oxedine suggested financial details be included either in a standalone document or within each of the plan’s eight pillars.
She also noted the lack of a “policy section” outlining how the plan would be revised over time. She also questioned many of the plan’s measures, saying they “continue to feel like actions, not measures.” A true measure, she said, should serve as a “benchmark point” for comparison and estimated that “at least 50%” of the listed measures were actually actions. Green assured her that her feedback would be taken into account.
The plan will be officially launched on Aug. 20, with promotional events scheduled across the state this fall.
“This plan is your plan. It is our plan,” Green said. “I look forward to North Carolinians making this plan successful.”
