Imitators are plentiful, and the state's present and former leaders are justifiably proud.
Given all the good things happening in education, it's doubly disturbing to discover that North Carolina's children, overall, by some measures are moving backward. The state has shown improvement in seven other areas, including the rate of births to teen mothers and teen dropout rates. But the foundation found that progress has been too slow in comparison with other states for North Carolina to maintain even its sorry 39th place ranking of last year. Where our children and our future are concerned, the Tar Heel State must not settle for 41st best. Governor Easley and the General Assembly need to map out a strategy for investing public money in a systematic, long-term campaign to improve the quality of life for all children.