A Letter from Phil Kirk
Thank Goodness
for the Public School Forum
 SERVE,
a six-state regional education laboratory, commissioned a study of
statewide public policy centers on education reform in Alabama,
Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina.
The amazing thing is that SERVE chose to highlight one organization in
the entire region and that is our Public School Forum of North
Carolina. Each state in our region has a similar reform-oriented
center, so the selection of our homegrown entity is a big honor.
The Forum opened its doors in Raleigh in 1986 and has grown in
influence from Day One because of strong staff leadership headed by
President and Executive Director John Dornan and Associate Executive
Director Jo Ann Norris, both of whom have been there the entire 15
years.
In 1986 North Carolina, like the rest of the country, was reacting to
the release of “A Nation At Risk,” which sounded alarm bells on
the quality of education. The state’s education leadership was in
disarray and conflict.
Funding from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation provided the impetus for
a group of legislators, business leaders and educators to begin the
Forum. The makeup of that initial group is still present today as the
board of directors is composed of one-third each of business people,
educators, and elected officials. The chairman and the president of
NCCBI both serve on the board each year. In fact, I was chairman-elect
of the Forum when Gov. Jim Hunt appointed me to serve as chairman of
the State Board of Education. NCCBI Chairman Emeritus Tom Bradshaw has
just completed his term as chair of the Forum, and was succeeded by
Sam Houston. Gerry Hancock served for 14 years. Funding comes
primarily from business and foundations, along with occasional federal
and state grants.
What does the Forum actually “do”?
Dornan says it best. “One day we’re insiders, sitting at the table
where decisions are made; the next, whistle blowers, challenging the
status quo. We’re a think tank, studying the issues; an active
participant, creating and running programs; a convener, bringing
together all the parties to consider solutions, a player in the
political arena, helping to turn the best ideas into action.”
The Forum’s voice has been exceptionally strong on
teacher/administrator recruitment and retention, technology, charter
schools, effective use of resources, accountability and closing the
achievement gap.
The North Carolina Teaching Fellows Program, a model for the nation,
is run by the Forum. The program has provided $26,000 scholarships to
5,600 high-achieving prospective teachers in 96 of our 100 counties.
Along with NCCBI, the N.C. Business Committee for Education, and local
chambers of commerce, the Forum founded the highly successful and
influential “Education: Everybody’s Business” coalition that
does the lobbying for the pro-business education agenda. The N.C.
School Boards Association and N.C. Association of School
Administrators are now members of the coalition.
The Forum’s offices are a beehive of activity as many
education-related groups convene there to tackle tough issues and to
brief policy makers, such as new members of the State Board of
Education and members of the General Assembly through its Institute
for Educational Policy Makers. The Forum is also the home for North
Carolina Partners, which brings together local education advocacy
groups from across the state.
The National Alliance of Business gave the Forum its 1999 State
Coalition of the Year Award; the same year North Carolina’s public
schools received the nation’s Education State of the Year
recognition. Dornan and Norris speak across the nation and overseas
about the Forum.
Forum study groups on the major education issues of the day have led
to huge changes in the way our schools operate. In fact, the Forum
staff is now serving in a major leadership capacity on the recently
Gov. Easley-appointed task force called to recommend a public school
system that will provide a superior education for all.
Would North Carolina’s public schools, along with Texas, be the
national leaders in school progress without the Forum? Would North
Carolina’s public schools be poised to become First in America by
2010 without the Forum? No!
For a copy of the SERVE study, call the Forum at 919-781-6833.
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