State Superintendent of Education Maurice “Mo” Green has a bold plan for the future of public schools in North Carolina.

“North Carolina’s strategic plan is called Achieving Educational Excellence,” Green said. “It has three major goals: high academic achievement, character development and then this audacious goal that North Carolina’s public school system will be the very best public education system in the entire country by 2030. … Our children deserve nothing less.”

Green was the keynote speaker at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Strategic Partnerships Quarterly Meeting and Luncheon at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church on Oct. 20. He spoke to a sold-out crowd of representatives from partner organizations that help support 185 CMS schools, and praised the district’s historic state accountability end-of-year results for the 2024-25 school year.

“There are a lot of great things going on in CMS,” Green said. “That doesn’t mean that there isn’t work to be done because there is, but we as folks who believe in public education, we must celebrate the excellence and proclaim how wonderful indeed our students are and our educators are, as well.”

Green explained his strategic plan, which features Eight Pillars of Excellence. The eighth focuses on building coalitions for increased investment and sustained community support. He urged the audience to believe in the mission, then following his lead, they said in unison, “I am a champion of public education.”

This is the second year that CMS Strategic Partnerships has held quarterly partnership meetings and a partnership summit. District partners, district leaders, community volunteers and supporters come together at these events to re-center and strategize about how to move forward and continue to increase student achievement and student growth. 

“We’re excited today because we are presenting to them the results of last year’s accountability model for the state where we made historic gains in student growth and achievement,” said Dr. Ingrid Medlock, CMS chief of staff and community engagement. “It’ll give them an opportunity to think through what’s next for them in relation to their partnership with us and how they can continue to support the schools, the students and the teachers. I think we’re sold out because the word has gotten out that CMS wants as many partners as possible to ensure student success and to make sure that we’re providing endless possibilities for all of our children."

Dr. Medlock said organizations that would like to partner with CMS can visit the district website, www.cmsk12.org. Click on Strategic Partnerships to find information on how to have a memorandum of understanding in place to be considered an official partner in the district. There is also a needs assessment dashboard where all CMS schools have listed their top three needs. Depending on the organization’s focus, they can be matched with one of those schools.