Graduation Rate

This week Education Week and the Editorial Projects in Education (EPE) Research Center released the 2010 Diplomas Count study on national graduation rates. The results for North Carolina were worse than reported to the U.S. Department of Education in recent years, and those figures were already bad.

In this editorial, The Charlotte Observer falls just short of applauding the state's eleventh hour legislative scheme to get Race to the Top funds, while criticizing charter schools for failing to become "incubators for innovation that traditional public schools could emulate to boost performance." 

 A couple of weeks ago, we asked our Charlotte-area supporters to come out and voice their opinion and concerns on North Carolina’s K-12 education achievement gap – and turn out they did!

Here at Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina (PEFNC), our mission is to inform parents and citizens of the benefits of expanded educational options, and we seek to empower parents to exercise the freedom to meet their children’s needs. In short, PEFNC seeks to find real solutions to how we can effectively better our educational system for all children in North Carolina.

Located in Charlotte, North Carolina, Brisbane Academy Preparatory School is an independent, nonprofit, private college preparatory school serving grades pre-K through 12.

 On Monday, PEFNC President Darrell Allison was a featured guest in Asheville on the Take a Stand Show with Matt Mittan (570 AM). The other featured guest was Dr. Tony Baldwin, superintendent of Buncombe County Schools. State Superintendent of Schools, June Atkinson also called in as a guest. The discussion ranged from drop-out rates to year-round schools.

According to a recent survey by the good folks at Public Policy Polling, more North Carolinians consider education to be the state's top issue. Despite all the talk about the economy, the percentage of voters naming education as their top issue has more than doubled since last year. Increased public awareness of educational issues could be one explanation for North Carolina's recent spike in private school enrollment.

With the 12th worst dropout rate in the nation, North Carolina needs to find answers to the dropout crisis that costs our state $169 million each year.