Amid this year’s National School Choice Week, it’s clear that the movement toward options for families has become deeply entrenched in the policy and political landscape. Its roots can no longer be easily ripped out. What a wonderful thing that is for the millions of parents who now have a choice in their children’s schooling.
Still, misconceptions about school choice and its impact on traditional public schools remain, even as inspiring stories of collaboration and innovation continue to emerge.
School choice opponents often suggest, for instance, that offering options to parents is somehow an attack on traditional public schools. I know from personal experience how untrue this is.
I formerly led the Department of Public Instruction’s charter school division, and I now lead the North Carolina Coalition for Charter Schools. I can tell you that we in the public charter school field don’t see competition. We see opportunity — to learn from one another, to get better, and most importantly, to offer children an array of learning environments that might best suit their unique, God-given gifts.
Take Paul R. Brown Leadership Academy as an example. A small, public charter school in rural Bladen County, it has become an exemplar of innovation, excellence, and collaboration.
The vast majority of the student body — 86% — is non-white, and 81% are economically disadvantaged. It’s also a military charter school, one of only a handful in the country. Parents often enroll their children in the school because they struggle elsewhere.
Not long ago, this school was on the verge of closure because of chronic underperformance. In fact, I would’ve been one of the people at the Department of Public Instruction to help shut it down.
But something changed: The school brought in a new leader, Dr. Jason Wray, as its superintendent. He oversaw a school-wide culture change, from the leadership to the students to the janitorial staff. “One thing I tell the teachers and the staff: ‘Don’t mistake behavior for ability,’” Dr. Wray said recently.
He should know. Dr. Wray grew up in the housing projects of Portsmouth, Virginia, one of seven kids raised by a single mother. Though he was the second-youngest of the group, he was the first to graduate high school.
He developed uncanny leadership skills during his 22 years in the military, and he applied them relentlessly when he took over Paul R. Brown Leadership Academy.
In 2022, when he joined, the school ranked almost last in Bladen County for both student achievement and student growth. Just three years later, the school out-scored every other public school in Bladen County for student growth, and ranked second in student achievement.
I share all this background to set up what happened next. The Wake County School System is the biggest in the state. Its superintendent, Dr. Robert Taylor, saw Dr. Wray’s success and invited him to share leadership lessons with Wake County principals.
“A small charter leader coming to the largest school district in the state. . . I was really in awe of it,” Dr. Wray said. (Dr. Taylor previously led Bladen County’s school system and hired Dr. Wray to lead one of his schools several years ago.)
That is what I mean when I say I don’t see competition between district schools and charter schools — I see opportunity.
Innovation and excellence can come from anywhere — from small, rural schools and from big, urban schools, and everywhere in between. What’s important is having the vision and humility to recognize excellence and learn from it, no matter its origin.
National School Choice Week is a time to highlight stories like this one and to reaffirm our collective commitment to quality education for all students, whether they attend district schools, public charter schools, private schools, or other learning environments.
The growing demand for charter schools in North Carolina reflects families’ desire for options that suit their children’s particular learning styles and needs. Charter enrollment in our state continues to grow, making North Carolina one of the fastest-growing states for charter enrollment nationwide.
But growth alone is not the purpose. The purpose is empowering families and educators to find what works, fostering innovation that lifts all schools, and ensuring every child has a chance to succeed.