Superintendent of NCDPI Mo Green visits Wilmington to discuss the future of public schools
With President Trump signing an executive order looking to eventually shut down the Federal Department of Education, we wanted to ask Green how will public schools continue to get funding from the federal level.
NEW HANOVER COUNTY (WWAY)–As one of many stops for Maurice “Mo” Green’s “Mo Wants to Know” tour, the State Superintendent of North Carolina schools came to the Cape Fear Monday night, talking to educators in Wilmington about three topics — things to celebrate and continue in school, challenges and potential solutions, and a big idea for public schools.
“Big issues that needed addressing in our public schools. I also appreciated folks talking about some big ideas- out-of-the-box things, if you will,” Green said.
Educators took to the mic laying out issues with technology, retainment, and funding. Three key issues reign at the top of minds.
“The voucher program took eight million dollars away from our public schools,” one teacher said.
With President Trump signing an executive order looking to eventually shut down the Federal Department of Education, we wanted to ask Green how will public schools continue to get funding from the federal level.
“Other agencies may do exactly what the department was doing and the funding continues just as it has been before. Or, it could mean that there is a decreased or a substantial decrease in the amount of funds,” Green explained.
Green says he doesn’t know what the future may bring at the moment. However, he does know about 11% of North Carolina’s overall budget for public education comes from federal funds. The state could apply for grants through the Department of Agriculture for school lunch programs or Health and Human Services for Head Start.
Another thing we asked about is the Artificial Intelligence security pilot program for New Hanover County Schools; will it be seen in schools statewide?
“Over time, there are going to be places where AI is beneficial, and there will also be places where we say maybe this isn’t the best way,” Green shared.
The AI program also can come down to money. One of the reasons the New Hanover County School Board voted against the AI pilot was because the state grant would’ve funded the program for only two years. Some board members were concerned about where the money would come from after to continue the program.
