Diverse teachers in the classroom improve student success across the board and can help fill a significant gap in the number of qualified teachers North Carolina needs in our schools, To improve equity and inclusion in the education profession, Governor Cooper issued Executive Order 113 to establish the DRIVE Task Force on December 9, 2019. DRIVE stands for Developing a Representative and Inclusive Vision for Education.
Governor Cooper’s DRIVE Task Force was comprised of parents, educators, administrators, education advocates, representatives of state and local government, representatives from the University of North Carolina system and North Carolina Community College System, and employers with a presence in North Carolina.
On January 1, 2021 the Task Force presented a final report on how to achieve greater equity and inclusion in the education field. The report assesses the state’s progress in increasing educator diversity in K-12 public schools, and identifies strategies to increase educator diversity, stakeholders, assets, and sources of funding that can be leveraged to recruit, retain, develop, and support more educators of color. The report also provides metrics and standards by which the Governor can evaluate the state’s success in achieving its goals under the Plan, improve recruitment, retention, development, and support of educators of color, and identify priorities for increasing educator diversity in the state.
At the close of 2023, the DRIVE Task Force unanimously voted to designate the Dudley Flood Center for Educational Equity and Opportunity as the governing body of the task force’s work moving forward.