Gov. Easley Announces $30 Million Effort to Create New High Schools

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Gov. Mike Easley today announced an $11 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to create high schools in North Carolina that better prepare students for work and college. The grant is the first part of what will be a $30 million initiative to create more than 40 new and redesigned high schools around the state with funding from government, private businesses and other foundations.

"In order to recruit new industries to the state, create more jobs and build a more highly skilled workforce in North Carolina, we must ensure that our students graduate high school with the tools they need for success," said Easley. "Our high schools must provide high-quality educational opportunities for all our students, not just those on an academic track. By creating new or transforming existing high schools, we can increase our graduation rate, produce a better trained workforce and prepare more students to move on to college. This agenda is imperative for us as we transition into a more knowledge-based economy."

Many education experts believe large, impersonal high schools, where students tend to get lost in the shuffle, can exacerbate low achievement and poor graduation rates. Smaller, more focused high schools that provide personal attention and rigorous coursework are better suited to helping all types of students succeed.

The New High School Project will start approximately 40 new and redesigned high schools across the state over the next five years. The project will work with school districts, in partnership with community colleges, public and private colleges and universities, nonprofit and business partners, to create new schools and transform large, impersonal high schools into smaller, more personalized learning environments. The schools will include innovative models that offer accelerated learning and tie education to workplace knowledge and skills. The project will focus on both rural and urban areas and create innovative new opportunities in each of the state’s economic development regions.

The project will be overseen by the North Carolina Education Cabinet, which is chaired by the Governor and includes the presidents of the university, community college and private college systems, the State Superintendent and the Chairman of the State Board of Education. It will be managed by the Public School Forum, a business-education nonprofit based in Raleigh.

"All students must have the option to attend a high-quality high school that prepares them for college, work and citizenship," said Tom Vander Ark, executive director for education at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "North Carolina’s strong partnerships, educational leadership and commitment will help create the momentum needed to transform the state’s high school system so all students can achieve."

The grant builds on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s nationwide effort to improve graduation and college-going rates, particularly among African Americans and Hispanics. The foundation has invested more than $500 million to support more than 1,500 small high schools around the country to help communities provide education options tailored to individual student needs.

The North Carolina initiative grew out of recommendations by the Governor’s Education First Task Force to reform high schools to prepare students for college and the workplace skills required by emerging industries. The task force argued that North Carolina’s economic competitiveness and quality of life are dependent on reducing dropouts, increasing the high school graduation rate, and ensuring all students graduate college-ready and prepared for highly skilled jobs.

Joining the Governor and Tom Vander Ark at the announcement were Sen. Walter Dalton, sponsor of the Innovative Education Initiatives Act; Phil Kirk, President of the N.C. Citizens for Business and Industry; Ken Thompson, CEO of the Wachovia Corp. and Chairman of the Governor’s Council on Business and Management; Gordon Myers, Chairman of Ingles Corp. and Chairman of the N.C. Economic Development Board; Joe Freddosso, Vice President of Cisco Systems and Chairman of the N.C. Business Committee for Education; Krista Tillman, President of BellSouth-NC and Co-Chair of the Governor’s Education First Task Force; Howard Lee, Chairman of the State Board of Education; Mike Ward, Superintendent of Public Instruction and Co-Chair of the Governor’s Education First Task Force; Molly Broad, President of the university system; Martin Lancaster, President of the community college system; Hope Williams, President of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities; Willie Gilchrist, Superintendent of the Halifax County Schools and Co-Chair of the Governor’s Education First Task Force; and Tom Lambeth, Chairman of the Public School Forum of North Carolina.