A central pillar of a strong and prosperous future for North Carolina is strong education and workforce development systems that are effective, agile, accountable, and continually produce a competitive, world-class workforce. The dropout rate for North Carolina’s students is a main concern for the North Carolina Chamber and its members. Aside from the lack of an education, dropouts tend to be leading candidates for unemployment and prison, which costs state taxpayers millions every year. Throughout the nation, only 70 percent of students graduate from secondary schools. Improvement of secondary schools to graduate the remaining 30 percent would benefit the nation by the billions. The projected number of dropouts for North Carolina is 41,362 and the total lifetime additional income if they graduated is $10,754,181,953 (2008 Report from Alliance for Excellent Education). The North Carolina Chamber is interested in organizing North Carolina's business community to lower the dropout rate. You can help with our efforts by participating in our Dropout Challenge.
Click here to read more about the North Carolina Chamber's Dropout Challenge Campaign.
Click here to read a dropout article from the Charlotte Observer.
Dropout Rates Down 4.97%
The Department of Public Instruction announced that there was a 4.7% decrease in the number of dropouts in high school for the 2007-2008 year from the 2006-2007 year! Click here to find out more results on last year's dropout rates provided by the Department of Public Instruction.
North Carolina Chamber Active on Education
The Public School Forum Lew Ebert, President and CEO of the North Carolina Chamber, is a member of the Board of Directors of The Public School Forum. The Forum is a not-for-profit policy think tank that collaborates ideas to make North Carolina education better. The Public School Forum partners with North Carolina leaders in business, education, and government. Currently the Forum supervises twenty elementary and middle schools in several communities. To learn more about the Public School Forum, click here.
North Carolina New Schools Project
In pursuit to make North Carolina a better place to live, work, and learn, the North Carolina Chamber is working with the North Carolina New Schools Project (NCNSP).The main goal for NCNSP is to get secondary education to reach its potential.This potential is measured by the ability of all high-school graduates to be proficient enough to attend college, prepare them for future careers, and craft them to be active members in society. To explore how NCNSP is taking action click here.
The NC 1:1 Learning Technology Initiative
The 1:1 Learning Technology Initiative is a public-private partnership in which pilot high schools across North Carolina are taking a strategic approach to creating future-ready schools. This initiative would equip a laptop computer for every student, provide broadband and wireless connections to schools, and offer technical support with a program evaluation. This is an exciting time for education in our state, and our state Chamber is collaborating with NCLTI as a next step in better preparing graduates. Click here to read more about the 1:1 Learning Technology Initiative, and click here to see how else you can get involved.
North Carolina Communities in Schools
North Carolina Communities in Schools uses human resources and networking to help ensure that the youth of North Carolina stay in school and that they are prepared to contribute back to the world. This is another educational group that the North Carolina Chamber is affiliated with to help make our educational systems stronger and help reduce the dropout rate here. To visit Communities in Schools click here.
Futures for Kids (F4K)
F4K is an active online career center that works with students from middle schools and high schools to help figure out their preferred career paths. This exploration tool allows students to be exposed to careers that match their talents, interests, and dreams by providing a career coach to give guidance. Many of our Chamber's Cornerstone members help with career coaching or support F4K in other ways. The North Carolina Chamber supports these principles and tactics to reach North Carolina’s youth and shape and mold them to be the future leaders of the state. Click here to find out more about F4K .
Junior Achievement
Junior Achievement is a partnership between the business community, educators and volunteers — all working together to inspire young people to dream big and reach their potential. JA’s hands-on, experiential programs teach the key concepts of work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy to young people all over the world. JA Worldwide is the world’s largest organization dedicated to educating students about workforce readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programs. The North Carolina Chamber believes in the principles that JA works for. Click here to learn more about Junior Achievement.
NC STEM Community Collaborative
The NC STEM Community Collaborative is a statewide leader in incubating K12 STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programs in North Carolina communities. NC STEM is dedicated to ensure that all North Carolina students have the opportunity to engage in a rigorous, sustainable STEM education giving them a foundation for future success and providing their communities a workforce that aligns to richer economic opportunities. NC STEM works with leadership and stakeholders from policy, industry, education, economic development, and other community sectors to create a cohesive education model suitable for each region’s needs and informed by the state’s needs. Click here to learn more.
North Carolina Business Committee for Education
The North Carolina Chamber is an active member of the North Carolina Business Committee for Education (NCBCE). Our Chamber is committed to improving the caliber of our state's schools and the competitiveness of its students. NCBCE's mission, "to act as a catalyst for systemic change and continuous improvements in public education and act as an advocate, resource, and business voice in public education," matches up with our Chamber's education objectives. Click here to visit NCBCE's web site. Click on the links below to learn about how members of the North Carolina Chamber are involved with NCBCE and its Graduation Project.
NCBCE has created an action plan for job shadowing. To read more about Job Shadowing and the North Carolina Graduation Project click here.
21st Century Graduates - A Closer Look at the North Carolina Graduation Project
