Name as it appears on the ballot: James Barrett

Age: 49

Party affiliation: Democrat

Campaign website: barrettforschools.com

Occupation & employer: IT Management, Lenovo

Years lived in North Carolina: 42 

1) Please tell us what in your record as a public official or private citizen demonstrates your ability to be an effective Superintendent? Please be specific. 

I have been an advocate for strong public schools for 15 years. I began as an advocate through Justice United, then established a track record of bringing positive, progressive changes to my local school district as an elected school board member, with policies that bring respect to teachers, and budgets that improve education for all and especially lift up our lowest-paid workers.  In my day job, I have successfully led large efforts to change the practice and processes of large systems with thousands of stakeholders and tight constraints. I am the one candidate with the track record in all the areas needed—leadership as an elected official and of a large organization, deep knowledge of policy and how to use policy levers creatively, and effective public and behind-the-scenes advocacy—to successfully bring change to the Department of Public Instruction and all of our schools that can ensure that ALL students are successful.

2) Superintendent Mark Johnson is now running for lieutenant governor. Generally, what do you think of his term as Superintendent? Do you approve or disapprove of the way he has handled the job? Why or why not? 

Disapprove. Mr. Johnson does not share my values on education, but beyond that, he did not have the leadership ability to successfully bring change of any sort, even on the few ideas where he was headed in a positive direction, such as reducing the impact of testing on our students and teachers.  Our schools and teachers cannot afford another four years of learning on the job how to lead large teams of people to accomplish our values—I am the candidate who is ready on Day 1 to lead change with honesty, integrity, and creativity, including undoing the damage Mr. Johnson has done to work of DPI and its decimated ranks of public servants, and to the support for public education and its success across the state. 

3) Please tell us the three most pressing issues the next Superintendent will face, and how, if elected, you plan to address those issues. 

1) Eliminate the testing regime stressing out our students and teachers and painting a narrative of failure with the public. I would work immediately, collaboratively with all stakeholders, to change from high-stakes to lower-stakes tests that give useful measures of learning and guidance for adjusting instruction. This likely means focusing assessments on standards-based grading—a major change project that would make a positive difference for everyone.  We know students and teachers need assessments, so that students know where they stand and teachers can see what help each student needs to succeed. We should be smart enough by now to use teacher-created assessments to understand the policy implications, because the current system is not giving us accurate data and is hated by all who are involved in executing the process.

2) Focus on state-level policies that can restore respect for the teacher profession. There’s much we can do even within the constraints the legislature continues to put on schools. Two examples: I will work with the State Board of Education to put into policy work that we’ve done in Chapel Hill-Carrboro that restores protections for teachers from at-will firing and supports teachers’ free speech. I would also find the money in DPI’s budget to offer paid parental leave immediately, to model what districts should do for all educators.

3) Focus on school safety, with an immediate budget push on physical security (for example, quick locks on interior doors) and emotional safety, with proper levels of mental health funding as we face a multifaceted student mental health crisis. I would also focus DPI on providing excellent training to all districts on using school resource officers in a positive manner, including in support of Chief Justice Cheri Beasley’s School-Justice Partnerships, and on other ways we can improve safety such as investing in restoring relationships through Restorative Practices instead of just punishment to handle discipline issues.

4) Over the last six months, there has been considerable debate (and legal battles) over Superintendent Johnson’s decision to award a K–3 reading program to Istation, though it was not the highest-ranked program by a committee of educators. Later, Johnson gave Istation an emergency contract, which the state canceled, then issued an identical one. Based on what you know, what do you think of the way the Superintendent handled this situation? How would you have handled it differently, if at all? 

Mr. Johnson broke the process for making this decision at multiple points along the way.  He unilaterally pushed through his choice without any buy-in from his own committee; he sprung the decision on districts that had already invested in other materials aligned with the prior assessment tool late, just before school started for the year; he was not transparent; and he was defensive when challenged.  All of this reflects his lack of leadership ability, which is required for this job. For 25 years, I have spent all of my working days driving change projects of various scopes. I know how to get stakeholder feedback before a decision is made. I know how to get buy-in and cooperation from those opposed to a decision before implementation is complete.  As a previously elected official, I am committed to transparency in our public service and openness to feedback (unlike some other challengers for this position, who are deleting questions asked on Facebook or their own responses, and blocking constituents). From my first campaign on, I widely shared my phone number and met with any who asked to hear their concerns. I continue to readily share my phone number (919-590-5754) to be accessible, and also expect to be the first Council of State member to automatically publish all emails that I legally can to a Google group, so that the public can know what we’re doing on your behalf without needing to request and wait for specific records.

5) Teacher pay has long been a hot-button issue in North Carolina, including in the recent budget standoff. Teacher salaries have risen in recent years, though critics have argued that they have not risen enough. There has recently been talk of a teacher strike in protest, even though such strikes are illegal. Whether or not such actions take place, what’s your position on teacher pay? As Superintendent, how would you see to recruit and retain the best possible teachers for the state’s schools?

Pay that recognizes teachers as professionals is of utmost importance.  It is part of the unconstitutional underfunding of public education that our General Assembly has been proven to be committing, especially over the past nine years.  I will strongly advocate with the public and with legislators that NC teachers need to be paid on par with other professionals of similar educational requirements, and, as we are the ninth-largest state in the country, in line with at least the national average of teacher pay. On recruiting, I have a track record of supporting innovative work for getting high-quality candidates, such as TA-to-Teach programs and recruiting through non-traditional avenues, including overseas.  We can expand this with more 2+2 programs to reduce the cost of obtaining a bachelor’s degree and also give teachers meaningful classroom experience while they complete classwork.  

Retention is helped when there is a clear progressive salary schedule showing future rewards for remaining in the profession as well.  In addition, policies such as First Amendment protections and some components of due process rights can be implemented by our state board of education to improve respect for teachers and encourage retention.  There are other creative avenues worth supporting now being pursued by some districts, such as advanced teaching roles to keep our best teachers in the classroom instead of moving to administration—I will support those efforts as well.  In all of this work, we need to recognize two things: 1) Our need for teachers of color (proven to be more effective with students of color than our white teachers) is large and must be addressed purposefully. 2) Our high-need schools (within both well-off and poorer districts) should be addressed as a priority in our recruitment and retention efforts.  Great teachers will have the greatest impact on students with higher needs, and while this will ruffle feathers among some, we need to take steps that address those needs first. Doing what’s best for students must be the priority in everything we do.

6) A Superior Court judge recently ruled that the state was not meeting its constitutional obligation to provide students with a “sound, basic education.” The judge’s ruling cited a consultant’s report arguing that the state’s per-pupil funding has fallen over the last decade, adjusted for inflation. Do you agree with that assessment? Do you believe state schools need additional resources to meet this constitutional requirement? 

Yes and yes.  Ignoring inflation is how politicians get away with reducing support while claiming to have increased it.  The WestEd report is very specific about what it takes to address the needs of students across our state. I have the skills needed to implement the two-thirds of the recommendations from the report that the state superintendent can influence directly (including policy work with the state board), and the skills needed to advocate for the remaining third that requires additional funding from the General Assembly.  The report even points out for us that the economic value of graduating students is 2.5 times the return as what we invest in their education. Making this investment case clear for the public across our state, along with community organizing in key districts to ensure we move votes, will be part of my job as advocate-in-chief for public education across NC. We have the resources available in North Carolina (consider this—South Carolina spends 50% more on public education than we do as a proportion of their state’s GDP; it’s unconscionable that after the great education leadership of Gov. Hunt we could get to this point). We just need to muster the will and push the General Assembly to meet its constitutional requirements for funding.

7) Test scores show significant disparities in achievement between schools and school districts. Why do you think some schools perform better than others? As Superintendent, how would you work to turn around the state’s lowest-performing schools?

There is no one answer here.  Part of it starts with the current use of a testing methodology that is more correlated to the level of poverty in a school than to the actual work that’s being done. I will immediately push for changes to our testing regime that will eliminate this false narrative, because we know from management theory that you get what you measure; thus, we need measurements that align with the work we want to see in each school.  Part of this stems from the challenges of trauma and adverse childhood experiences that students walk into school with, which impact their ability to absorb material and actually learn. I will push for greater supports aligned with needs in these schools as well as professional development that helps all teachers address trauma in their instruction, to improve our ability to reach all students. Also, as we’ve moved to thinking of this as a data-based problem, we’ve gotten away from the relationships that are necessary for students to engage in learning.  We should not be afraid of students knowing that their teachers love them and believe in the potential of each and every student to succeed. This is a huge cultural shift to see it happen in every classroom, but we won’t be successful in every school without it. Finally, we can and we must do better in our literacy instruction. Proficient reading is necessary for education and engagement in our society, yet the status quo is that half our students aren’t reading on grade level, and that includes two-thirds of our students of color. This is a scandal, and teachers need help to follow the science to a solution. We need to change how we teach reading so that we reach all students; other districts and one state, Mississippi, show us how this can be done.  Districts such as Bethlehem, PA, have done this, getting 84% of students on track, even with schools with a student population in which 50% receive free or reduced-price lunch.  Brain science has shown us how to do better here. We need a serious change effort to ensure that we are using the science to help all students succeed.

8) Research suggests that schools in North Carolina are becoming more racially and economically segregated, which has significant adverse effects for low-income children and children of color. In addition, according to a 2018 report from the N.C. Justice Center, “In 72 percent of the counties with at least one charter school, charter schools increase the degree of racial segregation in the district.” What steps, if any, do you believe the state should take to address these issues? 

The state can highlight how we are moving backward in this work, through report cards on both district and charter schools.  Student assignment policies should remain under local control for district schools, but the state should shine sunlight on the issue for consistent pressure.  For charter schools, I will work within the law, but to the fullest possible extent of my power, to ensure that charters are meeting the needs of communities by being reflective of the demographics within the community, and hold them publicly accountable.  In my school board work, we recently improved on this for magnet programs, for example, by weighting all lotteries based on neighborhoods. Since we know neighborhoods are extremely segregated economically and racially, we can influence results to achieve what we want without illegally biasing the results directly.  I will push for charter schools to use a similar process to meet their obligations to serve all students. 

9) Do you believe that tax dollars should go to private schools? If so, under what circumstances? Do you support the expansion of charter schools? Why or why not? 

No.  Public money should be spent on benefits for the entire public.  And that means it should be available for all students. Too many private schools in NC refuse admittance to LGBTQ students/families, they are not teaching real science, and they are not transparent nor accountable to the public.  All of those things are the strengths of our public schools, and public money should be invested only in support of the common good, not private goods.  

10) As technology becomes more integrated into learning, what sort of changes would you like to see made in order to make North Carolina schools more technologically advanced?

Before I was on the school board, there used to be an expectation that every student take a course online before they graduated.  Now, budget cuts have made access to these courses problematic. Given that professional development in many different careers is offered online, I think it is a valuable skill for students to learn how to self-pace, to go outside the curriculum to seek help from quality sources, and to be given assessments that require deeper thinking vs what students can find (and cheat with) by using Google.  I don’t think online learning in any way replaces the necessary relationship work (and real-time adjustment to lesson plans) that teachers provide in our classrooms, but I do think there are skills about how to use and learn from technology that our students are missing out on by our failure to insist that all students are taught how to learn in this new environment. Before we go too much further with technology efforts, we need to address digital divide issues that still exist – especially through rural broadband access and creative ways to get network access in low-income homes such as wifi on busses parked overnight in convenient places.

11) Are there any other issues you would like to address that have not been included in this questionnaire? 

Leadership matters.  So does teamwork. Over the past decade, I have done more on-the-ground work of campaigning to get pro-public education General Assembly members elected than all my opponents combined.  I am ready to campaign with all General Assembly nominees who are truly supportive of public education, because we need our entire state to buy into the vision of public education that our constitution requires: “wherein equal opportunities shall be provided for all students.” 

I’d also like to address the notion that the next superintendent must have teaching experience. That experience can be valuable, but many teachers and principals I meet on the campaign trail quietly tell me that they know leadership experience matters more, as does an open mind and a willingness to listen to educators’ concerns. I’m not in this race so I can tell teachers what to do, or so I can do photo ops of classroom visits. I’m in it for more of the hard work I’ve done for the past eight years, the hard work of bringing changes that will truly benefit all our students, especially those whose needs have gone underserved for far too long. Fixing the gaps in our system keeps me up at night; I’m eager to put thoughts into action on a statewide level. I appreciate the Indy’s support of my past campaigns, and I humbly ask for it again this year.