Perspective | Gov. Hunt was the nation’s ‘education governor’

Like many of you, I attended the Dec. 26 funeral service in Wilson for Gov. James B. Hunt, Jr. I traveled there with friends whose common thread was that of serving in different leadership roles in K-12 public education or higher education during the last two terms Gov. Hunt was in office. We shared stories about our different experiences with the governor and with Carolyn over those years. We recalled Gov. Hunt’s “First in America” agenda that he had outlined in his State of the State address that kicked off his final four years in office. 

While some other southern governors were working to advance public education in their states, Gov. Hunt’s intense focus on K-16 education was unique in America at that time. He was relentless in his efforts to hold K-12 and higher education in North Carolina accountable for producing measurable improvements, even as he worked closely with the General Assembly to increase teacher pay and increase per pupil spending for public schools as part of the governor’s ABC’s education program.

Gov. Hunt was a strong advocate of the Public School Forum of North Carolina, the Teaching Fellows Program, and he advanced a 12% salary increase for teachers who became Nationally Board Certified. He supported funding for creating university-school partnerships for improving teacher preparation in the UNC System.

The collective impact of Gov. Hunt’s drive to improve education was remarkable: teacher retention and teacher quality improved, student absenteeism was reduced, and graduation rates increased. Most important, student achievement on all state and national tests improved significantly. North Carolina went from a “bottom-dweller” state to being competitive with Illinois, Ohio, and other mid-level states in educational achievement. Gov. Hunt believed that targeted investments and accountability would raise student achievement to the national average — and it did.

Concurrent with his relentless focus on education, the governor worked closely with the business community to gain their support for his education agenda. Due to these efforts some major American and foreign high tech companies were attracted to North Carolina. Gov. Hunt forged a solid link between education and economic development and accelerated the flip from the state’s historic economic drivers — tobacco, textiles, and furniture — to a technology/knowledge-based economy.

Gov. Josh Stein and former-Gov. Roy Cooper, in their remarks, captured the special character of Gov. Hunt as well as our affection for the man who drove us hard to be better than maybe we thought we could be. It was special that former governors Mike Easley (D), Pat McRory (R), Jim Martin (R), and Bev Perdue (D) were present for Hunt’s state funeral.

The words of the Hunts’ daughter, Lt. Gov. Rachel Hunt, rang true when she said, “You are the people that helped make North Carolina the great place it is today and, along with my mother, he would never have been able to do the things he did with the state and this country.”  

All of us worked in different ways with Gov. Hunt and were honored to help him achieve his remarkable vision for North Carolina. We were proud that our governor cared so deeply about public education in North Carolina.

We were also proud that he was impacting education across the country through his leadership of the National Commission on Teaching for America’s Future and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and that we still have the largest number of National Board Certified teachers in the United States. We were proud that our N.C. School for Science and Mathematics and our N.C. Center for the Advancement of Teaching, two of Hunt’s initiatives, were models for the nation. We were inspired by him and know that during the time he was in office, North Carolina became the envy of the nation in improving and promoting public education.

More personally, in my post-retirement work as director of teacher quality for the 50-state Education Commission of the States in Denver, Colorado (which the late Gov. Terry Sanford co-created), it became even clearer to me that Gov. Hunt had become the nation’s “education governor.” Governors and other state leaders, Republican and Democrat, all wanted his wise council and his voice to be heard in their states. Through The Hunt Institute, Gov. Hunt expanded his impact on the nation. It will be another of his lasting legacies.

We’ll miss Gov. Hunt, but let’s stay committed to his vision of what it takes to be first in the nation in public education. We know Rachel Hunt will carry that torch.