Top 10 Education Issues 2016

As the Public School Forum of North Carolina enters its 30th year in 2016, it continues its tradition of forecasting the ten issues most likely to impact K-12 public schools across the state in "Top Ten Education Issues for 2016." Two ongoing tensions underlie much of the current debate over the future of public education in North Carolina. The first concerns the amount of money available to support public schools. The second tension played out in the past year through wildly divergent impressions of state leaders' support for public education. The following key priorities are presented: (1) Direct Adequate Resources to Public Schools, Teachers, and Leaders; (2) Transform the Profession to Make NC a Teaching Destination Again; (3) Emphasize Quality, not Quantity, in Charter School Growth; (4) Elevate Race as a Focal Point of Public Education; (5) Fix the Broken A-F Grading System; (6) Support the State's Struggling Schools; (7) Maintain High Standards for North Carolina; (8) Make Evidence-Based Decisions on Expansion of Private-School Vouchers; (9) Expand Access to High-Quality Early Childhood Education; and (10) Build Bridges for Students through Expanded Learning. [For the 2015 report, see ED628972.]