Some school boards not mindful of students, says former NC Board of Ed. chair
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- During a hearing designed to review the state's plan to correct educational deficiencies, the former North Carolina State Board of Education chairman testified that some school boards are not mindful of students.
Dr. Bill Harrison, who served as chairman of the North Carolina State Board of Education, which sets policy for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, from 2009 through 2013, said Tuesday that some of the school boards were caught up in "political stuff."
His comments come as Wake County Superior Court Judge Howard Manning tries to determine if the state is abiding by its constitutional obligation to help students at risk of academic failure.
Manning has made it his business to oversee academics in North Carolina public schools since handling the Leandro v. State of North Carolina decision more than a decade ago. His ruling in the case - brought by the parents of children in poorer school districts - said children are guaranteed the right to equal opportunity to obtain a sound, basic education under the state constitution.
Attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the case say the state's plan falls way too short.
The lead prosecutor reminded the court that some 300,000 3rd - 8th graders are currently not reading at grade-level and called witnesses like Harrison to take the stand to lay out why the deficiency and others exist, and what needs to be done about it.
Harrison said time and again, he had seen administrators at the local level not doing their job to look out for the student's best interest.
"I was involved with one superintendent who completely abdicated the responsibility for evaluating principals and did not evaluate principals and did not spend time in schools supporting instruction," he said.
The hearing is expected to last through Thursday, with Manning slated to decide whether the state needs to do more to ensure that every North Carolina child receives a sound, basic education.
