A 1994 study found that the region's 12 school systems needed hundreds of millions in construction money to keep pace with growth. Competition from charter schools and private schools means that parents have more than one place to look for a child's education, said Gene Riddle, superintendent of Moore County schools. That must change, he said. Schools of choice have been shown to stimulate students' interest in learning and to lead to higher scores on standardized tests. Getting those scores up is vital, said Don Steed, Hoke County schools superintendent.
Low scores are a problem throughout the region.
And all of the systems were below the state average on Scholastic Assessment Tests. But buying and maintaining computers is expensive, and teachers need to be trained to use them effectively in classrooms. Again, a matter of money. Byron Lawson, superintendent of Bladen County schools, said the federal government could afford to give more money to school systems if it cut down on the bureaucracy that rules its programs. Giving money to the systems' general funds, rather than specific programs, would be one way to do that, he said.