The General Assembly created the North Carolina Education Cabinet in 1992 to ensure cooperation among all entities of the state's education system. The cabinet consists of the Governor, who serves as the Chair, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Chair of the State Board of Education, the President of the University of North Carolina, the President of the North Carolina Community College System, President of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. These education leaders work together to resolve issues between existing providers of public education and to develop a strategic design for a continuum of education programs.
Last year, Gov. Perdue reinvigorated the North Carolina Education Cabinet by naming former State Board Chair Howard Lee as Executive Director and focusing its mission on creating a seamless PreK-20 educational system that will produce college ready high school graduates and a 21st century workforce for North Carolina which is further illustrated in the Governor’s education agenda Career and College - Ready, Set, Go!
Since Gov. Perdue’s term began, the cabinet has been fostering open communications and strong collaboration among the education sectors on matters of common interest, such as e-learning, teacher and administrator quality, 21st century skill development, and increasing the graduation rate both in secondary and post- secondary institutions. The North Carolina Education Cabinet has further been catalyzed by the Governor’s decree that "Every kid - no matter where he or she lives in NC - must graduate from high school with what it really takes to succeed in a career, in a two- or four-year college or in Technical training."
The North Carolina Education Cabinet meets quarterly and is scheduled to meet again on August 26, with tentative meetings scheduled for October 25 of this year and January 12, March 24, May 25, August 25, and November 15 of next year. The upcoming meetings will focus on the cross sector policies needed to ensure that our education system graduates students that are career and college ready and each meeting will be open to the public.