Foundation gives public schools poor grades

The Triangle's largest public school districts earn disappointing grades for "parent-friendliness," according to a John Locke Foundation spotlight report.

The conservative non-profit organization gave Wake County schools a C grade, and Durham an F.

No Triangle school district earned a higher grade than the C+, assigned to Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools. The report assigned a C to Chatham and Person public schools, and a C- grade to Johnston County public schools. Franklin and Orange schools earned D+ grades, while Granville schools earned a D. The Vance County school system matched Durham's F grade. The report ranks Durham No. 111 and Vance dead last among the state's 115 school systems.

The John Locke Foundation has long been critical of public education and supports vouchers and school choice. The report is based on a new assessment of public school administration, teachers, safety, and student performance.

"With no threat of losing clientele to competitors, many schools and school districts behave like the monopolies they are," said report author Terry Stoops, education policy analyst for the foundation. "These school districts focus on strengthening the organization's position and goals, rather than meeting the needs of students and parents."

The rankings are based on 11 different measures in the four categories of school administration, teachers, safety, and performance.

The report gave no school districts an A grade, and just 19 of North Carolina's 115 school districts earned B grades.

In a district-by-district comparison, Stoops found differences based on geography and school district size. School districts in western North Carolina generally fared well in the parent-friendly rankings, with eight of the top 10 districts being located in the west.

"In general, smaller school districts proved to be more parent-friendly than large school districts," Stoops said. "Most of the top-performing school districts in this assessment enroll between 1,000 and 5,000 students."

Stoops' spotlight report, "The Parental Prerogative: How 'parent-friendly' are school districts in North Carolina?" is available at the John Locke Web site. For more information, call 828-3876.