NC Schools Receive Low Marks in Management and Finance

Last month, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Center for American Progress and the US Chamber of Commerce released the third annual State-by-State Report Card on Educational Improvement.

North Carolina scored satisfactorily, except in the critical categories of School Management and Finance, where grades of “C” and “D” were given, respectively.  While a “C” is an average grade for School Management, it was troubling to see that 92% of teachers felt that “red tape” interfered with teaching duties.

Even more troubling is that the state earned a D in Finance. The proneness of North Carolina’s funding mechanism to misallocation and lack of transparency are cited as major causes for concern; however, funding problems are likely to be compounded in light of the State Supreme Court’s recent ruling that public school systems have to make per-pupil payments to public charter schools.

Fortunately, North Carolina has an option to raise or eliminate the charter school cap.  Raising the cap would make North Carolina a front-runner for part of the $4 billion “Race to the Top” Federal Fund and help eliminate some of the finance problems cited in the AEI report.  Charter school models, generally, also allow teachers more freedom to focus on instruction instead of having to focus on administrative duties and paperwork.