CHAPEL HILL – Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board member, James Barrett, says closing the achievement gap—a general agreement of those running—will continue to be his top priority if re-elected to the board.

“We believe we are the best district in the state, and if we truly want to be a great district, we’ve got to make sure that we’re living up to our promise to serve all students,” Barrett says. “The achievement gaps shows that we’re not doing that today.”

WCHL’s Elizabeth Friend spoke with Barrett about his seeking re-election to the School Board.

 ***Listen to the Interview***

Barrett says the way to shrink that gap is to focus the time and energy of the district on things that can be controlled.

“There’s a lot of things with poverty and race that we don’t have control over,” Barrett says. “But, what we have control over is the quality of that teacher and what he or she is doing in the classroom every single day. That’s what Dr. Forcella is clearly focused on, and I think that’s what the district ought to be focused on.”

Four candidates are contending for three seats on the school board.

Between now and Election Day, we’ll be previewing each of the candidates one-on-one.

For more on Barrett, click here.

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