North Carolina Launches Comprehensive Five-Year Plan to Reach National Education Leadership by 2030
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North Carolina has launched an unprecedented effort to transform its public schools into the nation’s best by 2030, with State Superintendent Maurice “Mo” Green and the State Board of Education unveiling a comprehensive five-year strategic plan affecting 1.5 million students. The “Achieving Educational Excellence” initiative, approved unanimously in August 2025, sets clear benchmarks including a 92% graduation rate and national leadership in standardized test scores while establishing robust accountability through quarterly public reports and an Excellence Report Card.
TL;DR
North Carolina launched a five-year strategic plan in August 2025 to become the nation's best public school system by 2030.
The plan affects 1.5 million students across 2,683 schools with measurable goals including 92% graduation rate and higher test scores.
NC College Connect now provides automatic college admission to 62,000+ seniors with 2.8+ GPA at 98 institutions without traditional applications.
The Golden LEAF Foundation invested $25 million to improve math instruction in rural middle schools across the state.
Progress will be tracked through quarterly public reports and an annual Excellence Report Card with transparent accountability.
The plan emerged from extensive community engagement including listening tours across all 100 North Carolina counties.
Key initiatives include mental health training, reading campaigns, and developing an endowment for tuition-free college.
Historic Collaboration Sets Bold Vision
State Superintendent Maurice “Mo” Green and the North Carolina State Board of Education unveiled “Achieving Educational Excellence” in August 2025, marking the first joint strategic initiative between the two governing bodies in over a decade. The ambitious five-year plan sets a clear target: positioning North Carolina’s public schools as the best in the nation by 2030.
The strategic framework affects 1.5 million students across 2,683 public schools, representing 84% of North Carolina’s school-aged children. Developed through extensive community engagement including eight regional listening sessions, more than 30 stakeholder meetings, and dozens of school visits across all 100 North Carolina counties, the plan emerged from Superintendent Green’s “Mo Wants to Know” listening tour that gathered input from thousands of educators, parents, students, and community members.
“This is a bold plan that matches North Carolina’s potential to have the best public schools in the country,” said Green at the August 20, 2025 launch events held at Wake County public schools. “We created this strategic plan after crossing the state listening to parents, students and educators about their hopes and dreams for education.”
The State Board of Education unanimously approved the plan on August 7, 2025, demonstrating strong institutional commitment to the transformative vision. Governor Josh Stein expressed robust support for the initiative, emphasizing that “North Carolina public schools open doors of opportunity for 1.5 million students. This strategic plan sets a bold and ambitious vision for our schools to be the very best in the nation.”
The strategic plan establishes eight core pillars designed to drive comprehensive educational improvement: preparing each student for their next phase in life, revering public school educators, enhancing parent and community support, ensuring healthy and secure learning environments, optimizing operational excellence, leading transformative change, celebrating excellence in public education, and galvanizing champions to fully invest in schools.
Each pillar includes specific, measurable goals with clear accountability mechanisms. The plan sets ambitious targets for 2030 including raising the four-year graduation rate from 86.9% in 2024 to 92%, increasing the state ACT composite score average from 18.4 to 20, and achieving national leadership in NAEP reading and math scores for fourth and eighth grades. Additional goals include reaching 89% public school enrollment, 41% career and technical education participation, and becoming the Southeast leader in educator compensation.
State Board Chairman Eric Davis emphasized the collective effort required: “We will achieve educational excellence — not because it’s easy, but because it is hard. We do our best when we do hard things together, and our students deserve nothing less.”
The plan includes more than 100 specific action items that will be tracked publicly at State Board of Education meetings, creating clear accountability for results. To ensure genuine progress toward the ambitious targets, NCDPI is establishing an Office of Strategic Planning to oversee execution and a Strategic Plan Monitoring and Accountability Committee to track implementation.
Author Quote"
What makes North Carolina’s approach genuinely transformative is the combination of specific measurable goals with actual operational initiatives like NC College Connect that are already removing barriers for tens of thousands of students. This isn’t just aspirational rhetoric—they’re building the infrastructure for systemic change while maintaining transparent accountability that allows the public to track whether promises become reality.
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How the MSM Has Misled
In this case, mainstream media coverage of North Carolina's strategic plan was largely accurate and well-sourced. Unlike many education stories where sensationalism or missing context distort the narrative, sources properly attributed the plan, included specific data points, and quoted key stakeholders appropriately.
Minor framing note: Some headlines emphasized "Best in Nation by 2030" without clarifying this is an aspirational goal rather than a guaranteed outcome. While not factually incorrect, casual readers might misunderstand NC's current middle-tier national standing. More precise framing would state: "NC Sets Goal to Become Best in Nation" rather than implying it's a certainty.
This represents responsible education journalism with room for additional context about current standings and implementation challenges. The primary sources were transparent about the ambitious nature of the goals and the extensive accountability mechanisms being established.
Operational Programs Already Delivering Results
Several major programs are already operational or rapidly advancing. NC College Connect, launched as a pilot program in 2024 and expanded statewide in fall 2025, provides direct college admission to more than 62,000 North Carolina public high school seniors with a weighted GPA of 2.8 or above. The groundbreaking initiative offers automatic admission to 11 UNC System universities, 29 independent colleges and universities, and all 58 North Carolina community colleges without requiring traditional applications.
“NC College Connect represents a fundamental shift in how we approach college admissions in North Carolina,” said UNC System President Peter Hans. “By eliminating unnecessary complexity, we’re ensuring that college-ready students can focus on choosing the right institution for their goals, not navigating bureaucratic hurdles.”
The Golden LEAF Foundation has committed $25 million to transform mathematics instruction in rural middle schools, addressing a critical need in economically distressed and tobacco-dependent communities across the state. Mental health support is expanding significantly through Youth Mental Health First Aid training for educators and school staff statewide. A statewide reading campaign aims to engage students, families, and communities in reading 10 million books annually, promoting literacy development and a culture of reading across North Carolina.
System modernization efforts are already progressing, including migration to Infinite Campus, a comprehensive school and student data system designed to improve efficiency and data accessibility across the state. The technology upgrade represents a major investment in operational infrastructure supporting better decision-making at all levels.
Key Takeaways:
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First Joint Strategic Plan in Decade: The "Achieving Educational Excellence" plan represents the first collaborative initiative between the North Carolina State Board of Education and state superintendent in more than ten years, signaling unprecedented institutional alignment around transformative goals for 2,683 public schools serving 84% of the state's school-aged children
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Eight Measurable Pillars with Specific Targets: The framework establishes eight transformation pillars with over 100 tracked action items including raising graduation rates from 86.9% to 92%, increasing ACT scores from 18.4 to 20, achieving NAEP leadership, reaching 89% public school enrollment, 41% CTE participation, and becoming the Southeast leader in educator compensation by 2030
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Major Initiatives Already Operational: NC College Connect now provides direct college admission to 62,000+ seniors with 2.8+ GPA across 98 institutions without traditional applications; Golden LEAF Foundation invested $25M in rural middle school math instruction; Youth Mental Health First Aid training expanding statewide; 10 million books reading campaign launched; Infinite Campus data system migration underway
Building on Strength with Transparent Accountability
North Carolina enters this ambitious effort from a position of existing strength in several areas. The state leads the nation with nearly 25,000 National Board Certified Teachers, demonstrating a strong foundation of highly qualified educators. North Carolina has also gained national recognition for innovations including one of the top early college programs in the country, where high school students can earn college credits and even associate degrees before graduation.
Progress will be monitored through quarterly public reports and an annual Excellence Report Card, providing transparency about what’s working and where adjustments are needed. “We want to be upfront and honest about the progress of the plan’s action items,” Green said at the launch event. The plan will undergo annual reviews and adjustments based on data and outcomes, allowing for course corrections while maintaining focus on the overarching goals.
Superintendent Green plans to host regional events throughout fall 2025 across all eight education regions to provide opportunities for public engagement and education about the plan’s implementation. Community members are encouraged to become Public School Champions and participate in regional forums to learn more and contribute to the effort.
Education experts note that achieving the plan’s ambitious targets will require sustained commitment, adequate funding, and effective coordination across multiple systems. The five-year timeline gives North Carolina’s education system a focused period to achieve what officials describe as transformative change. Success will depend on maintaining political support across administrations, securing necessary resources, and engaging educators, families, and communities as active partners in the effort.
Author Quote"
The strategic brilliance lies in North Carolina building on existing strengths—25,000 National Board Certified Teachers, top-tier early college programs—rather than starting from scratch. When states leverage what’s already working while addressing gaps through targeted investments like the $25 million Golden LEAF math initiative in rural communities, they create realistic pathways to improvement that don’t depend solely on massive new funding.
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North Carolina’s strategic plan demonstrates what’s possible when state education leaders move beyond political posturing to create comprehensive, measurable frameworks for transformation. The difference between aspiration and achievement lies in the details: specific benchmarks, operational programs already serving students, transparent quarterly accountability, and community engagement across all 100 counties. While some states announce education initiatives that exist primarily in press releases, North Carolina is building infrastructure—from NC College Connect’s direct admission system to Golden LEAF’s rural math investment to Youth Mental Health First Aid training—that creates tangible pathways to improvement. The five-year timeline provides focus while the quarterly Excellence Report Card ensures the public can distinguish between promises and progress. For families navigating educational systems that sometimes prioritize bureaucracy over outcomes, North Carolina’s emphasis on removing barriers like college application complexity while strengthening supports like mental health training represents a student-centered approach. The real test will be sustaining political commitment across administrations and legislative sessions, but the robust accountability mechanisms make abandoning the plan more difficult than following through. Parents and educators seeking resources to support individual student success can explore comprehensive solutions at our All Access Program, which provides evidence-based approaches to building cognitive skills that complement systemic educational improvements.
Contact Information - State Superintendent Maurice Mo Green, State Board Chairman Eric Davis, Governor Josh Stein Press Office - press@gov.nc.gov, NCDPI Communications
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