Hunt: Schools to Improve

But Hunt admitted that the initiative's mediocre grades proved the state's education system still has a long way to go.

The First in America initiative, which Hunt launched last year, received an average grade of 80 percent in five primary categories - student performance, student preparation, a safe and caring school atmosphere, teacher quality and community support for education.

A group of about 100 people, including members of the state Board of Education; Molly Broad, UNC-system president; Mike Ward, state superintendent of public instruction; and other education officials from across the state, gathered to hear Hunt's briefing on the report.

Hunt explained the report's mediocre grades the way a child would justify a less-than-perfect grade in math to his mom. "We are, today, comparing ourselves in North Carolina to the best," he said. "We are tough graders."

Charles Thompson, director of the N.C. Education Research Council and the main author of the report, said the grades showed significant gains for the state but also room for improvement.

"We've come a long way," Thompson said. "But there's still a long way to go."

But the state did show significant improvements in several areas, including an increase in the number of nationally certified teachers. In the past year, the state has increased its numbers of nationally certified teachers to become first in the nation.

"More than one-fourth of all of America's board-certified teachers are in North Carolina," Hunt said.

The state also scored a high grade of 84 percent in the "every child ready to begin school category," a figure Thompson said was surprisingly high considering the state's mediocre adult literacy rates and poor child care services.

But along with these improvements were several shortcomings for North Carolina, including the report's only "F" in the "every school with adequate facilities and materials" category.

After Hunt explained the report card grades, he called on several education officials to highlight what still must be done in order to achieve the goal of becoming first in the nation by 2010.

Phil Kirk, state Board of Education chairman, said the project is on the right track, but the state must keep up the hard work.

"We've got not only to maintain our momentum, but speed it up," he said.

Ward underlined the importance of getting as many people as possible involved in the campaign, including parents.

"Parents care about the progress of N.C. schools," he said. "But parents care most about the progress of the schools their children attend."

Even though this year's report card might not get the state on the honor roll, A. Hope Williams, N.C. Independent Colleges and Universities president, still says the state gets an "`A' for effort."

"We all want to do our part in becoming first in America," Williams said. "But in pursuing this goal, North Carolina is already a model for the nation."

The State & National Editor can reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.