Governor McCrory Convenes Education Cabinet, Directs Group to Develop New Vision and Brand for North Carolina's Education System

Press Release

Governor Pat McCrory convened the first North Carolina Education Cabinet meeting in nearly three years today. At the meeting, the group outlined several key goals and objectives to improve our education system.

"Today's meeting kicked off our efforts to improve North Carolina's education system to ensure it remains not only the best in the country, but around the globe," said Governor Pat McCrory. "We are bringing everyone to the table to develop a new vision and brand for North Carolina education. Our goal is to work together to make certain every student receives an affordable, well-rounded education and graduates with the skills and knowledge necessary to get a job."

The Cabinet will focus on five key areas:

1) Develop a brand, objectives and goals for North Carolina education. Under the new brand, education entities will speak with a unified voice. Education is a key factor in economic development and therefore must have a strong tie with the Commerce Department's initiative to develop new branding for North Carolina.

2) Share efficiencies and effectiveness among each education silo. The Cabinet will inventory current collaborative initiatives across the education entities and determine how we best share resources throughout North Carolina -- including teachers, technology, and facilities.

3) Institute shared budget process. The Cabinet will assess all education entities' budget processes and analyze ways to work together to present unified requests.

4) Prioritize workforce talent development. The Cabinet will consult with the Commerce Department to incorporate recruiting and marketing initiatives in curriculum development to ensure future market employment needs are met.

5) Determine the composition of the Education Cabinet. The Cabinet will examine the focus areas outlined above and determine who else needs to be included in meetings.

The governor created a working group for each focus area to be chaired by a member of the education cabinet. Each cabinet member will update the governor in six weeks on their working group's findings.

The Education Cabinet was created in 1992 to ensure cooperation among all entities of the state's education system. The members include Governor Pat McCrory, who serves as chairman, Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson, State Board of Education Chairman Bill Cobey, President of the University of North Carolina System Tom Ross, President of the North Carolina Community College System Scott Ralls, President of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities Hope Williams, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Aldona Wos.

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