NC wants to have the best public schools in the U.S. by 2030. Here’s the plan.
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- NC Board of Education approved plan to lead U.S. in public education by 2030
- Key goals include higher graduation rates and teacher pay across all districts
- Plan lacks clear financial details, raising concerns from GOP board members
North Carolina education leaders have adopted the ambitious goal of having the best public school system in the nation by 2030.
The State Board of Education approved a five-year strategic plan on Thursday that calls for “achieving educational excellence” by making North Carolina public schools the best statewide school system in the country. The state’s progress will be evaluated through measures such as raising teacher pay, student test scores, high school graduation rate and the percentage of students attending public schools.
“We’re focused on being the best in the nation: Not second best, not we want incremental improvement,” said State Superintendent Mo Green, a Democrat. “We need to be clear-eyed about where we are. Every year you’ll see where we are, but we’re moving to be the best in the entire country.”
The strategic plan comes amid a challenging period for public schools that are trying to return to pre-pandemic achievement levels. Public schools face federal funding cuts and a Republican-led federal government and state legislature that are both promoting private school vouchers.
“This plan does not deny the reality of challenges and faces them head-on with creativity, commitment and the unwavering belief in our teachers and that our students deserve nothing less than our full commitment and excellence,” said state board chair Eric Davis.
The majority of the state board was appointed by former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. Green and the state board will hold events on Aug. 20 to officially kick off the plan.
Pillars of strategic plan
The strategic plan is based on three main components. In addition to wanting to make the state’s public schools the best in the nation, the other components are high academic achievement and character development.
The plan is built around eight pillars:
- Prepare Each Student for Their Next Phase in Life — Expanding rigorous pathways, dual enrollment and character development.
- Revere Public School Educators — Competitive compensation and career advancement opportunities
- Enhance Parent, Caregiver and Community Support – Strengthening family engagement and partnerships
- Ensure Healthy, Safe and Secure Learning Environments — Physical and emotional safety with mental health support
- Optimize Operational Excellence — Modernizing systems and eliminating administrative burdens
- Lead Transformative Change — Research-driven innovation and accountability reform
- Celebrate the Excellence in Public Education — Comprehensive messaging to highlight successes
- Galvanize Champions to Fully Invest in and Support Public Education — Building coalitions for increased investment and pride in our schools
The plan would carry out the pillars with actions such as:
- Start a new program to focus on improving foundational math skills in the early grades.
- Lobby state lawmakers to restore providing extra pay to teachers who have master’s degrees.
- Partner with groups to expand school-based health services for students and staff, including telehealth.
- Establish a task force to develop a new school accountability model for assessing school performance.
- Launch a statewide reading campaign to have students read 10 million books annually.
Measuring the success of the plan
The strategic plan has several key goals for measuring success by 2030:
- Raise the four-year high school graduation rate from 86.9 to 92%.
- Raise the ACT composite score from 18.5 to 20 . The ACT is taken by high school juniors.
- Raise the participation rate on Advancement Placement exams among 10th- through 12th-graders from 21.5% to 30%. Students take AP courses for college credit and to raise their grade point average.
- Raise the participation rate on Career Technical Education (CTE) courses among K-12 students from 36.1% to 41%.
- Raise the percentage of school-aged children enrolled in public schools from 84.5% to 89%. This percentage includes both traditional public schools and charter schools.
- Raise pay so North Carolina leads the Southeast in educator compensation.
- Raise North Carolina’s performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) exams given to fourth- and eighth-grade students nationally every two years. The state is scoring below 2019 levels in 8th-grade reading and math and 4th-grade reading.
How much will the plan cost?
The plan was unanimously approved by the state board. But the two Republican members raised concerns about the financial costs for carrying out the plan, which are not listed.
“A financial impact statement would be important,” said board member Olivia Oxendine, who was appointed by former GOP Gov. Pat McCrory. “How much is this going to cost? We may not have the exact figures today because everything is fluctuating in terms of a budget, existing dollars. But if we could get somewhere in the ballpark I think that would be important.”
Green, the state superintendent, said the estimated financial costs will be added over time by the plan’s implementation teams.
Items such as raising teacher pay would need significant additional funding. Much of the funding needed to carry out the plan would likely need to come from the General Assembly.
“We have to have the understanding that there’s a limited amount of funds to go achieve these metrics,” said State Treasurer Brad Briner, a Republican. “I think we all do, but I want to make sure that I voice that publicly so we don’t find ourselves a year from today sitting here saying ‘Sure we didn’t achieve them because we didn’t get all the money we wanted.’”
Limited money and private school vouchers
Davis, the board chair, said they recognize there are limited dollars. But Davis, who was appointed by McCrory and reappointed by Cooper, was among the board members and board advisers who had complained earlier that public schools don’t have enough state funding.
Davis cited the lack of a new state budget and how state lawmakers are providing hundreds of millions of dollars each year to fund private school vouchers. He also cited the ongoing Leandro school funding case, where the Republican majority on the state Supreme Court is weighing whether to overturn a 2022 ruling ordering the transfer of state funds to public schools.
“Let’s show this state and our nation what public schools can achieve when passion meets purpose, when vision meets action, and when adults put the future of our children first,” Davis said. “Let’s give our lawmakers a glimpse of what is possible so all of us can see clearly how much further we can go with a fully funded investment in our children’s future.”
This story was originally published August 7, 2025 at 12:53 PM.
