Morehead City, N.C.

June 5, 2007

TO THE EDITOR:

I encourage our county commissioners to fully fund the school budget.

 I noticed from the paper that $1.2 million is a capital request to replace 780 aging computers that are no longer up to standard. Visit one of the high schools computer labs and note the number of computers it takes to teach the full high school curriculum. Visit the business department of one of the high schools and see first hand how many computers it takes to teach the computer applications classes, accounting classes, etc. Ask them to give you the numbers of students who use the computers daily and determine when the computers were bought and the normal use before needing to be replaced.

Visit each department within a high school and ask them to explain how computers are used to teach their part of the total curriculum. Visit an elementary and middle school and note how the computers are used to begin preparatory skills for high school computer competencies. Take special note of the number of students who have difficulty mastering the basics of computers and ask the teachers how they are able to get this group to perform at a level to be able to pass the state mandated tests.

Take a look at the number of computers needed in just the assimilation and management of all student data mandated by the state.

At our time of attending high school the use of technology mostly consisted of a typewriter. This was the extent of the technology we knew. The skills needed by business and industry today are far different than what most of us experienced in public schools.

The Carteret County school system is at the forefront of leadership. When I came into this county in the mid ’70s and worked with the community college, local schools were close to being an embarrassment. Poor funding was the main problem. This county has come a long, long way in student scores. I worked many years in Craven County and we were most always ahead of Carteret County in many areas. The funding in Craven County was always superior to Carteret County and the student leadership activities were usually superior.

Carteret County has now caught up with Craven County and is posting better student test scores in most courses. The superior performance in Carteret County is a direct correlation to better funding. The improved performance within the Carteret County system did not happen overnight and it was definitely not an accident. Somebody did some good planning to move this system from close to the bottom to where it is today.

Go to the End of Course listing on the county Web site and note the difference in the percentage of higher scores in End of Course test results. Across the board, algebra 1 and 2, English 1, biology, physical science, physics, chemistry, geometry have considerably higher scores than the state.

There are a number of counties close by which have neither the tax base nor the resident income of Carteret County. I am from Beaufort County and their funding is way below what Carteret County does and the test scores reflect that situation. Many counties in eastern North Carolina would love to have the financial capability of Carteret County.

I noticed a comment from a commissioner that, “There is a need for more business people on the school board.” When you come from the bottom of the ladder to consistently performing better than many other counties in the state, somebody can identify unmet needs, identify why many students are performing below standard and can add and prioritize figures in determining costs to reach those goals. That takes some business knowledge to move from below standard to excellence in performance. There are many people who run businesses who are unable to take business knowledge and apply it to an educational setting of identifying low student performance and move students to an excellent level of performance. And that is what has happened in this county.

MELVIN BRIGHT