Hopefuls promise to improve schools

The superintendent of public instruction is held accountable for the education of 1.3 million children in North Carolina.

On Nov. 2, Democrat June Atkinson and Republican Bill Fletcher will vie for the opportunity to hold that responsibility.

Former Superintendent Mike Ward retired from the seat Aug. 31 after his wife was offered a bishop position in Mississippi.

"We've got a lot of things we need to improve in schools," Atkinson said. "I'm not a person who accepts the status quo."

She said that while test scores demonstrate achievements in elementary schools, the dropout rate in high schools indicates that those schools still need improvement.

She said bettering education when students enter high school by creating smaller learning environments and providing extra help sessions would decrease dropouts. "We need to make the notion that colleges can be in (students') future."

In her 33-year career in education, Atkinson was a teacher in Virginia and North Carolina, a president of national teaching organizations and the state director of instructional services.

She said her experiences have given her knowledge of different school districts and influence over the education of the children.

Atkinson said Fletcher, who has worked with one county, has limited experience, whereas she has worked with all of the districts in the state. "We don't have the time to have a superintendent who needs to learn on the job," she said.

But Fletcher said the state educational system would benefit from his leadership.

For 11 years, Fletcher has served on the Wake County Board of Education, where he promoted Goal 2003, which helped 91 percent of Wake County third graders in 1998 to read at or above grade level by the time they entered eighth grade.

He said such accomplishments attract teachers to the county. "It's that kind of goal-setting that we need to do at the state level."

Although Fletcher acknowledged recent gains in N.C. public schools, he said the education system still needs improvement to prepare students for life in an increasingly technological world.

"We're still mired in the pack, compared to other states," he said. "Our graduates have to be prepared to take on higher education and the knowledge workforce."

Fletcher also criticized the achievement gap in North Carolina. "My opponent is really happy to chug at a 1 or 2 percent gap increase," he said.

He also said studies show that education methods used in elementary schools, such as the ABCs accountability model, do not decrease the dropout rate when students enter high school.

"We need to focus on reading, and we should not take no for an answer," Fletcher said, adding that his experience demonstrates that setting higher expectations drums up support from the public. "The reality is that our schools will be only as good as our citizens want them to be."

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.