May 25, 2001

NCCBI gains major legislative victory with passage of bill
giving school boards more flexibility in hiring superintendents

NCCBI achieved one of its major goals for this legislative session when the House on Wednesday gave final approval to legislation that empowers local school boards with the flexibility to hire as superintendents individuals who are otherwise well qualified but who don’t have classroom experience or a college degree in education. Current state law says a person must have a degree in education and possess other credentials, requirements that disqualify many talented people from the business and financial worlds from working in the schools.

The proposal drew extensive debate and stiff opposition from the N.C. Association of Education, which warned legislators their vote on the bill, S. 378 Degree Not Required/Local Superintendent, would be its “first report card issue” of the session. Despite that pressure, the House passed the bill on second-reading Tuesday by a vote of 79-34 and it received third-reading approval Wednesday by a vote of 81-34.

A minor amendment was added during House debate that directs the State Board of Education to establish minimum credentials, education pre-requisites and relevant experience for local superintendents. But those minimum qualifications cannot include an education degree or certification.  Because of the amendment, the bill goes back to the Senate for concurrence.

The issue is a top priority for the NCCBI Education Committee, chaired by Clark Plexico, and received bipartisan support on the Senate and House floors. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Howard Lee (D-Orange) and was presented on the House floor by Rep. Carolyn Russell (R-Wayne).

“This is a major victory for local school districts who will be able to hire the best person who can most effectively lead their school systems,” said NCCBI President Phil Kirk.  “Our children deserve leadership that is derived from managerial experience. A person does not have to have an education degree to gain that administrative background.”  

Kirk and John Dornan, executive director of the Public School Forum, co-signed a letter to House members that pointed to the state’s community college system and university system, which have the authority to hire leaders outside the education arena.

“Of our three systems of education, the university system, the community college system and the K-12 system, only K-12 is a `closed shop’ in that certification is required for school superintendents,” the letter states.  “Unlike our community college system or UNC system, local school boards cannot consider any candidate based solely on their leadership skills, their managerial abilities of their record of producing high quality results. Instead, local school boards are confined to look for leadership from within the system.” The full text of the letter is reprinted below.

“We greatly appreciate the leadership of Sen. Lee and Rep. Russell on this important issue,” Kirk said. “They have spent a significant amount of time providing information about the implications of this bill, and their hard work has made a difference for public education in North Carolina.”

Text of the Letter

TO:       N.C. House of Representatives

FROM:  Phillip J. Kirk, Jr., President, NCCBI; John Dornan, Executive Director, Public School Forum

DATE:   May 22, 2001

RE:       SB 378 – Education Degree Not Required/Local Superintendent  

Today, SB 378 Education Degree Not Required/Local Superintendent is expected to be on the House calendar for action. The proposed legislation, which won approval in the Senate by a 47-1 margin, would allow local school boards to consider candidates for local superintendents, regardless of whether they have come through traditional required channels (i.e. served as principals, completed required college course work, etc.) or not.

Two factors argue strongly in favor of this proposal. First, of our three systems of education, the university system, the community college system and the K-12 system, only K-12 is a “closed shop” in that certification is required for school superintendents. Unlike our community college system or UNC system, local school boards cannot consider any candidate based solely on their leadership skills, their managerial abilities or their record of producing high quality results.  Instead, local school boards are confined to look for leadership from within the system.

Were those policies imposed on two or four-year colleges, a Joe Grimsley would never have been considered to head-up Richmond Community College. A Bill Friday would never have led the UNC system to national prominence. A Terry Sanford would never have contributed to making Duke University the highly regarded university it is today. The same logic would have prevented former governors like Dick Riley or Lamar Alexander from being named secretaries of Education for the United States. It would have prevented former governor Roy Roemer from serving as the superintendent of the Los Angeles County schools.

Second, the state is investing billions of dollars in K-12 schools in an effort to find answers to seemingly intractable problems – such as large performance gaps between students of different races or family income brackets and high dropout rates – but our certification requirements prevent schools from looking out of the K-12 community for new answers, for different approaches, for results-driven leaders out of the education mold.

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