• Advocate for additional local, state and federal funding in order to provide resources, facilities, etc—to meet the increasing demand.  
• Explore creative funding solutions to address school capacity needs.
• Create unified political and civic leadership across the region that advocates for early childhood education funding.  
• Promote and enforce good student attendance through parental involvement and other appropriate means.
• Collaborate with local government to offer incentives for teacher recruitment, retention and satisfaction, such as affordable housing near schools, tax breaks, park and recreation passes.
• Increase active and ongoing involvement from community stakeholders, such as business, institutional, community leaders and parents in lobbying at the local, state, and federal levels for educational funding needs.  
• Develop policies that allow dual enrollment to occur—i.e., being able to gain credits at high school and college simultaneously. 
• Consider the creative uses of distance learning.  
• Create easy access for adult learners to audit courses at institutions of higher learning.  
• Advocate for equitable funding policies within North and South Carolina which will enable academic institutions to fairly compete for in-state students and advocate for tuition policies that may be applied across state lines.
• Use regional resources and connections to leverage global learning connections—international education, exchange programs, etc.
• Encourage more need-based financial aid programs that will enable residents from all backgrounds to afford high quality educational opportunities.
• Ensure that students from diverse language backgrounds receive thorough grounding in the English language regardless of their age/level in school.
• Promote strong reading, math, and problem-solving skills for all students whether college- or trade-bound.
• Promote high-quality skilled workforce training beginning with interest/skills exploration in middle school for those students who seek it.
• Provide adequate support for programs and institutions that provide skilled workforce training (for new, displaced and incumbent workers).
• Consider school site options/school construction options that support the region’s  environmental sustainability goals and/or provide ready access to civic/business locations.

A Sampling of Practices:

• Create a networking/sharing collaborative of education institutions in the region including PreK-12 schools, private and charter schools, universities, colleges, vocational schools and other institutions of continuing education.
• Expand regional professional development opportunities to teachers.
• Expand current resource sharing programs among teachers so that they cross county and state lines and use master teachers to mentor new teachers.
• Support programs that improve teacher recruitment, retention and professional development, and that reduce reliance on substitute teachers to cover core classes.
• Convene a regional task force charged to create an action plan to improve high school dropout rates (sample action item: identify best practices in curriculum and instruction)
• Create community partnerships with individual schools, particularly low-performing schools, to assist with motivating, mentoring, supplies, tutoring, etc.
• Link the region’s PTAs (being sure to include all socio-economic groups) in order to encourage sharing of ideas for strong parental involvement and fund-raising.
• Create opportunities for school board members from throughout the region to meet and discuss common issues and solutions.
• Provide training to school board members about state and federal issues that impact education, and add a regional orientation module to provide a regional context to their deliberations.
• Create a public awareness initiative, focusing on elementary through secondary school parents and students, reinforcing the value of a higher
• education in today’s global economy and promoting regular attendance.
• Create a unified message from all school districts concerning the importance of a high school diploma as a minimum.
• Develop a comprehensive website that contains information about all regional higher education options, including degree, certification, and in-service programs.
• Foster public and political awareness of current and future job opportunities within the region (such as motor sports, biotech, logistics), and what educational preparation is needed for these jobs.
• Utilize current regional business networks, partnerships and associations to encourage the creation of targeted programs at PreK-12 districts and secondary education institutions that prepare students for occupations that support the regional economy.
• Build on the success of the current Southwest Alliance (a collaborative of school districts, agencies, government institutions and other organizations) and create additional regional networks tailored for each group—teachers, central office staff and school house leaders.
• Support and expand the variety of re-training opportunities for currently employed workers whose skills are still “20th century.