Initiative

BEST NC

BEST NC is a non-profit, non-partisan coalition of business leaders committed to improving North Carolina’s education system through policy and advocacy. At BEST NC, we envision a North Carolina in which every student graduates with the knowledge, skills and behaviors to succeed in a competitive global economy.

Home Pathways Action Map BEST NC

Fast Facts

Relevant Actions Action 3.13, Action 3.6, Action 3.16
State or Local?

State
Counties

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Lead Agency

BEST NC
Type of Agency

Nonprofit
Racial Equity Lens
  • BEST NC collaborates with several initiatives to advance its Educator Innovation Plan, a set of high-ROI strategies to increase students’ access to effective teachers and school leaders. Each of these strategies is specifically designed to help recruit and retain highly effective teachers and school leaders in our state’s highest need schools, which serve a disproportionate number of students of color. BEST NC is also represented on the Governor’s DRIVE Task Force, which has developed a set of recommendations focused on increasing racial/ethnic diversity in North Carolina’s educator pipeline.
Impact
  • TeachNC is a partnership between BEST NC, NC DPI, and Teach.org. TeachNC is a web-based platform that provides licensure information, financial aid opportunities, a jobs board, and one-on-one coaching for prospective teachers across North Carolina. In the first three years, TeachNC has supported more than 3,600 candidates in applying to an educator preparation program in North Carolina.
  • BEST NC has been a leading voice for increasing principal pay in North Carolina and since 2017 average principal pay has risen from near last in the country to 3rd in the Southeast region.  
  • Each year, BEST NC releases Facts & Figures: Education in North Carolina which provides cradle-to-career data on North Carolina students. It is one of the most comprehensive looks at the state’s education system that has ever been released. 
  • BEST NC developed the Per Pupil Expenditure Interactive Data Explorer, an interactive tool that allows users to identify relationships between per pupil expenditures and other school-level data.
  • Since 2016, the Advanced Teaching Roles (ATR) Program has provided school districts with the opportunity to develop new organizational structures that provide career advancement opportunities to highly effective teachers who extend their reach to serve more students or lead teams of teachers. Thanks to BEST NC’s leadership there are now 19 districts implementing ATR across North Carolina with many more interested in participating. 
Next Steps
  • Looking ahead, BEST NC is committed to continuing to identify and advance research-based policies and programs that help ensure each North Carolina student has access to a high-quality teacher and school leader. 
Primary Partners
  • Business Leaders
  • State policymakers
  • NC Department of Public Instruction Leadership & Staff
Primary Funders
  • North Carolina Business Leaders
Contact

Brenda Berg

Active Counties