In the wake of the WestEd report and the following Leandro consent order, questions are circling about what changes will be required in North Carolina’s education system. One question people should be asking, though, is “who will be held accountable for implementing those changes?”

JLF’s Dr. Terry Stoops explained in a research brief this week that the leadership structure of North Carolina’s education system is a disorganized mess. Stoops explains:

Many North Carolinians assume that the elected superintendent of public instruction is the head of the state’s public schools.  After all, the superintendent is the most visible representative of North Carolina’s public schools.  But the N.C. Constitution grants the State Board of Education the power to “supervise and administer the free public school system and the educational funds provided for its support” and “make all needed rules and regulations in relation thereto, subject to laws enacted by the General Assembly.”

The lieutenant governor, state treasurer, and 11 appointed members of the State Board of Education, who are nominated by the governor and confirmed by the General Assembly, are voting members. The state superintendent is not. As the “secretary and chief administrative officer of the State Board of Education,” the superintendent acts primarily as a liaison between public schools and members of the State Board. 

The leadership structure may not be a well-known issue to the public, but lawmakers and education professionals have recognized this problem for a long time. Stoops writes:

In 1995, Gov. James Hunt remarked, “The big problem in education and state government today is that the buck doesn’t stop anywhere.”  Twenty-five years later, Mebane Rash, CEO and editor-in-chief of EducationNC and the N.C. Center for Public Policy Research, echoes Gov. Hunt’s sentiment,

“Ask yourself, ‘who is in charge when it comes to education?’ We have the governor, the Governor’s Education Cabinet, the legislature, the UNC system with 17 campuses, the community college system with 58 campuses, 36 more independent colleges and universities, the State Board of Education, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the school boards and superintendents in 115 school districts, 198 charter schools with 12 more on the way, and 100 county commissions that fund local education.  When it is not clear who is in charge, it is not clear who is accountable.”

The WestEd report has decision-makers pondering changes in the education system, but Stoops poses the question:

Why would the state embark on a massive expansion of its public school apparatus without first determining who is in charge, and thus ultimately accountable, for its implementation?

Read the full brief here. Learn more about the WestEd report and the education lawsuit it stemmed from here.