Democrat Mo Green won the race for superintendent of public instruction in North Carolina over controversial Republican Michele Morrow, 51-49%. He’ll succeed Republican Catherine Truitt next year. Green has called for increased funding for public schools and providing mental health resources in schools, among other things.
But what kind of power does the superintendent of public schools actually have to implement their agenda?
It's complicated.
What are the state superintendent’s actual responsibilities?
The state superintendent has a few key responsibilities.
First, they manage the state’s Department of Public Instruction. Second, they manage the roughly $14 billion in state and federal funding for public schools across the state. And third, they serve as the secretary and chief administrative officer on the state Board of Education.
But beyond that, the superintendent is also just the state’s chief advocate for public schools. For example, before every legislative session, they’re required to meet with the governor to make recommendations for legislation that might affect public schools.
What kind of power does the superintendent have?
There’s not really much the superintendent can do on their own. Obviously, it’s the General Assembly that determines how much state funding should go to schools. Local districts control local budgets. Most statewide decisions on public schools need approval from the state Board of Education, whose members are appointed by the governor.
“The power really is constrained significantly by the state Board of Ed," said Lance Fusarelli, a distinguished professor of educational leadership and policy at NC State. "And so I think what’s most important is how well the state Superintendent gets along with the state Board of Ed and if they have a good working partnership or if they’re in conflict with each other.”
The superintendent can create blueprints for what they think schools should be doing. Fusarelli pointed to “Operation Polaris,” which was a plan pushed by Truitt with a bunch of strategies to improve literacy and learning loss after the pandemic. But enacting plans like that requires cooperation from the state board.
What role does the General Assembly play?
That’s probably where he’s most constrained because the General Assembly has the power of the purse.
That was on display last week, when the Republican supermajority voted to direct public funds toward expanding the private school voucher program.
As a Democrat, Green will face an uphill battle there. Ultimately, the only thing he can do is be a forceful advocate for public schools in the legislature. Fusarelli said Green will be most effective if he tries to keep his lobbying focused on a handful of issues.
“I think it’ll be up to Superintendent Green to decide, you know, funding would probably be one. Are there one or two other issues that he really wants to press the state board, or the General Assembly or the governor on?” he said.
He'll likely have support from incoming Gov. Josh Stein, who’s also a Democrat. And Democrat Rachel Hunt will be taking over from Republican Mark Robinson as lieutenant governor. That’s important because the lieutenant governor has a seat on the state board of ed.
Looking ahead to the next session, Republicans have lost their supermajority — but they will still control the General Assembly.
And the supermajority has worked to limit some of Green's power before he even takes office. The hurricane relief package passed last week included provisions that stripped the superintendent’s ability to appeal decisions made by the state’s charter school board. And they also voted to shift oversight of the Center for Safer Schools from the superintendent to the state Bureau of Investigation.
What are Green's plans?
In a press conference after the election, he re-emphasized plans to focus on increasing teacher pay, promote early literacy and improve school safety, among other things.
On Monday, Green appointed Dr. Maria Pitre-Martin as his deputy superintendent and tasked her with leading his transition effort.
