State superintendent says NC schools will be ‘nation’s best’ in 5 years
North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction Mo Green is making a lofty promise: In five years, North Carolina will have the best public schools in the country.
By the end of his presentation at West Charlotte High Monday night, he had the room on its feet.
“I am!” the crowd chanted.
“A champion! Of public education!” the crowd rang out, as the West Charlotte drum line processed through the aisles of the auditorium.
Green, who was elected in November and took office in January, made the stop in Charlotte as part of a tour around the state’s eight education regions to introduce his new five-year strategic plan, entitled “Achieving Educational Excellence.” It has three main goals, Green said: high academic achievement, character development and having the best public schools in the country.
“This is not just my plan,” Green said Monday. “This is not just the State Board of Education’s plan. This is North Carolina’s plan.”
The blueprint was developed after Green went on a listening tour around the state between February and May. Green presented the initial draft for the plan at the State Board of Education meeting in June, and the board voted to approve it at its meeting Aug. 7.
It has eight pillars, seven main measurable goals and 110 actions NCDPI plans to take over the next four and half years to get there. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools superintendent Crystal Hill said the district “fully supports this vision.”
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators President Amanda Thompson said she believes the plan aligns with educators’ priorities.
“I think the listening sessions that (Green) did were definitely somewhere where he was listening to what educators, parents and caretakers in the community want,” she said. “Right now, in this day and age, him being in that seat gives me hope for the future.”
What’s in the plan
NCDPI aims to reach seven main goals over the next five years.
First, the plan aims to increase the share of students opting to attend NC public schools to 89%. Public schools served 84% of the state’s children in the 2024-25 school year. Green said he believes publicly funded school vouchers are a “significant part” of the drop in public education’s market share. But, he said, he welcomes the competition.
“This is an opportunity because now that we’re saying folks can choose all sorts of different things, we need to be sure that families are choosing public education, and in order for them to do that, they have to have a couple of things,” Green said. “One is they need to know that their child is going to receive an excellent education and that they’re going to be safe. And, we have to also be sure that the right information about our public schools is getting out there, about all the excellent things that are occurring in our public schools.”
The plan also aims to raise the statewide four-year high school graduation rate to 92%, up from 87.7% in 2025. Locally, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools currently has an average high school graduation rate that trails the state. It reached an average of 84.3% during the 2024-25 school year, down 0.1 percentage point from the prior year.
Next, NCDPI aims to reach an average ACT composite score of 20. It currently sits at 18.5.
The agency also aims to raise participation in advanced placement courses among 10th- through 12th-graders as well as participation in career and technical education courses throughout the entirety of NC children’s education. Currently, the participation rate in advanced placement courses in grades 10 through 12 sits at 21.5%, but Green aims to increase that to 30% by 2030. Total career and technical education, or CTE, participation is currently 36.1%, and the plan aims to raise it to 41% by 2030.
The plan also calls for North Carolina to “lead the Southeast in educator compensation.” This could prove to be a lofty goal: North Carolina currently trails all states in the Southeast in teacher pay, aside from Mississippi. Nationally, the state ranks 43rd in average teacher pay, according to the latest data from the National Education Association. The state spends about $5,000 less per student than the national average and $3,000-$4,000 less than neighboring Virginia and South Carolina.
Lastly, the plan calls for North Carolina to lead the nation in reading and math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, often referred to as “The Nation’s Report Card.”
The plan also has eight main “pillars”:
- Prepare each student for their next phase in life
- Revere public school educators
- Enhance parent, caregiver and community support
- Ensure healthy, safe and secure learning environments
- Optimize operational excellence
- Lead transformative change
- Celebrate excellence in public education
- Galvanize champions to fully invest in and support public education
Green said NCDPI will provide each district with updates about where it stands in relation to the statewide goals and work “closely” with them over the next four and half years to reach those goals.
Read the full plan here.
This story was originally published October 21, 2025 at 7:30 AM.
