Press Releases

Yesterday, Superintendent of Public Instruction Mark Johnson filed his legal response in the State Board of Education’s lawsuit against the State of North Carolina and the Superintendent of Public Instruction over House Bill 17.

Lisa Godwin, an Onslow County kindergarten teacher, was named the 2017 Burroughs Wellcome Fund North Carolina Teacher of the Year during an awards luncheon today in Cary. Godwin was selected from a field of nine finalists representing the state’s eight education districts and charter schools.

Joined by an excited group of kindergartners who had just enjoyed a special story time in the East Garner Elementary School media center, NC Superintendent Mark Johnson today announced the state’s NC Reads initiative. 

This summer, 670 of North Carolina’s most academically gifted and creative rising high school juniors and seniors will explore cutting-edge ideas and concepts in academics and the arts as part of the 2017 session of the North Carolina Governor’s School. The 2017 session runs from June 18 to July 26.

State Superintendent Mark Johnson joins North Carolina’s business community in recognizing March 22-31 as Students@Work Week. The Students@Work initiative’s goal is to expose students to possible job opportunities available to them in the workplace through job shadowing and mentoring opportunities. 

The State Superintendent today announced the hire of Chloe Gossage as senior legislative director and chief budget advisor.

The State Board of Education today hired Adam Levinson as the new Chief Financial Officer for the Department of Public Instruction. Levinson has been a member of the Department’s senior leadership team since 2007, serving as chief of staff, director of Policy and Strategic Planning, director of the Race to the Top program, chief performance officer and interim director of the Office of Charter Schools.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and Onslow County Schools were recognized at the February State Board of Education meeting for achieving Global-Ready designation. They are the first two school districts to be recognized for having the programs and tools to ensure students graduate prepared to live, work and contribute in an interconnected, global world.

Five North Carolina school districts have earned recognition by the College Board for boosting both participation and performance on Advanced Placement exams during the last three years.

In a conference call meeting today, the State Board of Education hired Dr. Eric Hall, president and CEO of Communities In Schools of North Carolina, to lead the new NC Achievement School District.

Districts and schools across the state and nation will show their love next week for their school bus drivers along with their valentines. Nationally, February is Love the Bus month; and in North Carolina, Feb. 13-17 is School Bus Driver Appreciation Week.

Hoke County Public Schools recently received the Green Ribbon School District Award from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) Safe and Healthy Schools Support Division and will now represent the state in national competition.

Eight outstanding public school principals have been selected as regional Wells Fargo North Carolina Principals of the Year and will now compete for the state title of 2017 Wells Fargo North Carolina Principal of the Year. The winner will succeed the 2016 recipient, Melody Chalmers principal of E.E. Smith High School (Cumberland County Schools).

Mark Johnson, the NC Superintendent of Public Instruction, will visit Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools on Friday, Feb. 3, as part of his NC Education & Innovation Tour. Earlier this year, Johnson pledged to conduct a listening tour to hear directly from educators, parents, and community leaders across North Carolina.

Last year, nearly 1 million North Carolina public school students were eligible to receive free or reduced priced meals at school through the National School Lunch Program. Of that number, fewer than 120,000 received meals during the summer months through the state’s Summer Nutrition Programs. In other words, approximately 88 percent of the state’s economically disadvantaged, school-age children may have been hungry during the summer.

Numbers of reportable acts of school crime, long-term suspensions, expulsions and corporal punishment events decreased in 2015-16, while the number of short-term suspensions increased, according to the N.C. Department of Public Instruction’s 2015-16 Consolidated Data Report. This report will be presented Feb. 2 to the State Board of Education. The total number of reportable acts of school crime decreased 3.2 percent from the 2014-15 school year. Approximately 1.5 million students attended public schools in 2015-16.

Nine teachers from across North Carolina have been selected as the state’s regional Teachers of the Year for their dedication, innovation and ability to inspire students to achieve and will now compete for the title of 2017 Burroughs Wellcome Fund North Carolina Teacher of the Year. The winner succeeds the 2016 Teacher of the Year, Bobbie Cavnar, a high school English and journalism teacher at South Point High in Gaston County.

North Carolina’s public high school dropout rate improved slightly in 2015-16, according to data compiled by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. As reported in the 2015-16 Consolidated Data Report, which will be presented to the State Board of Education Feb. 2, the state’s dropout rate ticked down to 2.29 percent from 2.39 percent the previous year. In 2015-16, 10,889 students dropped out, compared to 11,190 students the previous year.

Last week, the Wake County Superior Court granted our motion for a temporary restraining order to stop unconstitutional legislation that attempted to transfer the constitutional powers and duties of the State Board of Education to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Earlier this week, Chief Justice Mark Martin assigned a three-judge panel to hear the case. The three-judge panel was scheduled to go forward tomorrow morning (Friday, Jan. 6) with a hearing on our motion for a preliminary injunction.