Perspective | Thankful for North Carolina’s public schools

In 1948, a young man stood proudly at the graduation of Lucama School in Wilson County, North Carolina. Five years earlier, he had dropped out of the seventh grade.

Each year he started back, and each year he dropped out. The challenges of poverty were great, but with strong support from local educators, he managed to return to graduate high school.

That man was my grandfather, and that moment was one that forever changed the trajectory of our family’s story. The opportunity of education was the spark that ignited change in my family and continues to burn bright. And we owe it all to a local public school.

Our family’s story is a great one, but it is far from unique. So many families throughout our great state can trace opportunity and accomplishment back to public schools and the educators that serve proudly within them.

Much has changed in our state, our schools, and the many laws and policies that govern them since that graduation day, but one thing has remained the same: Despite funding, policy, or competition, North Carolina’s public schools have remained the backbone of opportunity and of our communities. 

Since the 19^th century, our local public schools have served as gathering places for movements, voting sites that saw change and progress, athletic fields where local heroes were made, and cultural hubs for communities. Our local public schools are so much more than classrooms. They are the frontlines where a commitment to a “sound basic education” is served by caring educators who work tirelessly to do what’s best for students — to provide opportunity. 

As a high school principal in a rural community in eastern North Carolina, I have had the privilege of witnessing the impact that a public school has had on students, educators, and community members.

I have proudly honored top scholars who worked hard to be the very best. I have witnessed our gym, packed with people, serving as a shelter to hundreds stranded by storms, a church to a congregation, a funeral service to lost students, and a site of rivalry basketball games for cheering crowds. And perhaps most importantly, I proudly graduated students who carry a similar story to the one my grandfather carried.

Through all of these events, there are countless people throughout our community who continue to experience life-changing moments — hosted by their local public school.