To be, rather than to seem... like the federal government?

"Bold and aggressive actions are necessary to turn around failing schools," North Carolina state Sen. Kay Hagan said recently as she announced legislation aimed at turning around low-performing schools.

The Tar Heel state's School Turnaround and Rewards Act would target the bottom 5 percent of schools implementing one of four intervention models that the federal government has been pushing to turn around struggling schools through its School Improvement Grant program.

But that program has had its critics — particularly because its four-sizes fits all plan (two of which rid struggling schools of key personnel, one of which dismisses the entire faculty and the final of which simply closes the school for good) provides little room for localized solutions.

Should North Carolina be copying a federal program that hasn’t yet had time to prove that it works? Comment here or contact us at editor@nodropouts.org