I’d asked his staff for information and given my home, rather than work, phone number. At 4:45 the next morning, I got Kirk’s response.
The chairman of the State Board of Education and executive director of N.C. Citizens for Business and Industry had a big day planned. He was visiting schools across the state and thought he’d answer my question on my voice mail before he left town.
I figured that if he didn’t need sleep, I didn’t either. I did the interview and went to work early.
Kirk announced his resignation from the State Board two weeks ago. As of May 1, he’ll only have one enormous job. How he did these two for the past five years is incomprehensible.
Kirk, a former Republican state senator, aide to Congressman Jim Broyhill, state cabinet secretary for Gov. Jim Holshouser and chief of staff for former Gov. Jim Martin was the perfect choice for board chairman back in 1997.
Republicans had taken control of the state House two years before and were demanding a bigger say in how schools operated. No one has better GOP credentials than Kirk.
So began Kirk’s remarkable tenure in two of the state’s most demanding jobs.
On policy issues, Kirk will be best remembered for his emphasis on ending social promotions and on using standardized testing. Neither policy is non-controversial. Social promotions are a form of surrender, and Kirk recognized that they had to end. But his reliance on standardized testing is symptomatic of an education system that is run increasingly by national testing agencies and that puts more faith in the expertise of a testing company than in the skills of a classroom teacher.
As important as his policy stands will be his legacy of involvement in the schools. During his tenure, Kirk visited approximately 750 schools. That’s an effective way to learn how the schools actually operate and what they need to improve.
When Gov. Mike Easley looks to replace Kirk, he’ll have a hard time finding someone with equivalent credentials who is willing to get up at 4 a.m. to have breakfast with first-graders.
Paul O’Connor is a Raleigh columnist for the Capitol Press Association.
