“As a boy in Sunday school I learned that ‘without a vision people will perish.'  I believe our vision for education needs to be one in which all of our children can benefit in order to move North Carolina forward; one in which families and tax-payers can believe.  It needs to be more than just words at a rally to fire up the crowd.  A vision brought solely from a lifetime of expertise will fall flat if it does not come with tenacious leadership to push through in the face of challenge and opposition.  To make our schools better and lead the nation in educational outcomes will require heavy lifting. Now is the time to roll up our sleeves and get to work because our children deserve better.” - John 

 A Clear Vision built on a 4x4 foundation (4 focus areas each with 4 key initiatives)

We can challenge our most gifted, raise our most vulnerable and build a promising future for North Carolina.

Build a Better Educated Workforce (ensure kids are either college or career ready)

1. Expand vocational opportunities and high school apprenticeship programs across NC.

2. Reduce rate of remediation in our community colleges & universities by strengthening high school standards.

3. Expand workforce partnerships and early college initiatives across the state.

4. Partner with key stakeholders in the private sector to ensure that our curriculum is building the human capital needed for our knowledge intense industries.

Protect, Develop and Empower Teachers

1. Trim wasteful spending on burdensome bureaucracy, outdated processes and ineffective programs, and realign those dollars to protect our teachers and classrooms.

2. Move away from a teach-to-the-test culture. Teach children needed critical thinking skills and accountability so that they may be productive members of our society positioned to reach their full potential.

3. Encourage merit based pay initiatives for teachers who produce measurable results or rise to meet added challenges; additionally, expand professional development and build strong career opportunities for those in the profession.

4. End “last in, first out” policies (seniority based layoffs) and shift to retain our most effective teachers for our students.

Reinforce the basics and innovate forward

1. Build early literacy metrics; makes 3rd grade reading a key benchmark, hold schools and students accountable to higher standards.

2. End social promotions and establish high expectations for all children at all schools.   Children need to be prepared and ready before they enter the next grade level.

3. Ensure our classrooms are taught with a 21st century pedagogy, functioning with 21st century tools, and providing a rigorous education to all students.

4. Institute more competitive-based funding opportunities in tandem to the state’s formula-based funding for local school boards that are built on measurable results.

Empower Parents and Strengthen Communities

1. Reduce state bureaucracy and red-tape to transfer more controls to local education authorities.

2. Strengthen school choice initiatives and even provide extended opportunities for public charter schools, traditional public schools, and homeschools to collaborate together.

3. Work with local school districts and community leaders to close the valve on the school-to-prison pipeline.

4. Build on our shared American cultural values, ensure our Constitution is being taught in a rich format, strengthen American History curriculum, and call for more civic engagement and service based learning for students.