Commission on Access to Sound Basic Education
About the Commission
The landmark Leandro ruling reaffirmed North Carolina’s constitutional duty to ensure all children have the opportunity to receive a sound basic education. The ruling requires North Carolina to identify specific resources needed to ensure that all children, including those who are at-risk or from rural and underserved communities, have access to a sound basic education. Since the court issued the Leandro ruling in 1996 and the subsequent Hoke County Board of Education ruling in 2004, North Carolina has struggled to live up to this constitutional requirement.
Governor Cooper’s Commission on Access to Sound Basic Education, created by Executive Order 10 in July 2017, is taking a comprehensive, inter-disciplinary approach to tackling the three key areas highlighted in the original Leandro ruling to ensure North Carolina is meeting its constitutional duty:
- Staffing each classroom with a competent, well-trained teacher;
- Staffing each school with a competent, well-trained principal; and
- Identifying the resources necessary to ensure that all children, including those at-risk, have an equal opportunity to obtain a sound, basic education.
The Commission includes 19 members appointed by the Governor from education (from early childhood through higher education), business, government, law, health care, psychology and counseling, and public safety. The Commission will work in conjunction with WestEd, a consultant jointly nominated by the Leandro parties and appointed by Judge David Lee, to develop recommendations for what the state needs to do to meet its constitutional obligations.
Commission Members
| Name | Title | Organization |
|---|---|---|
| Dr. Fouad Abd-El-Khalick | Dean, School of Education | UNC Chapel-Hill |
| Hon. Charles Becton | Retired Judge | NC Court of Appeals |
| Ms. Melody Chalmers | Principal | E.E. Smith High School, Cumberland County Schools |
| Mr. Jim Deal | Attorney at Law | Deal, Moseley & Smith, LLP |
| Mr. Alan Duncan | Former Chairman | Board of Education, Guilford County Schools |
| Hon. Rick Glazier | Executive Director | North Carolina Justice Center |
| Mr. Mark Jewell | President | North Carolina Association of Educators |
| Ms. Leigh Kokenes | School Psychologist | Wake County Public Schools |
| Dr. Helen "Sunny" Ladd | Susan B. King Professor Emeritus of Public Policy | Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University |
| Dr. Patrick Miller | Superintendent | Greene County Schools |
| Mr. James Moore | Police Chief | City of Rocky Mount |
| Mr. Mark Richardson | Commissioner | Rockingham County Board of Commissioners |
| Mr. Nick Sojka | School Board Attorney | Cumberland County Schools |
| Mr. Fernando Solano Valverde | ESL Kindergarten Teacher | South Lexington School, Lexington City Schools |
| Mr. Michael Williams | Director | Turning Point Workforce Development Board |
| Dr. Stelfanie Williams | Vice President for Durham Affairs | Duke University |
| Mr. Brad Wilson (Chair) | Former CEO | Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NC |
| Hon. Leslie Winner | Former Executive Director | Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation |
| Ms. Henrietta Zalkind | Executive Director | Downeast Partnership for Children |