School Vendors and Lottery Back NC 10 Million Book Push

RALEIGH, N.C. — Companies that sell reading products to schools, the state lottery and a Medicaid health plan are among the first backers of North Carolina’s bid to get public school students reading 10 million books next year.

The Department of Public Instruction unveiled its founding sponsors on Tuesday. State Superintendent Mo Green said their combined help reaches six figures and beyond, counting cash, incentives and in-kind support. The department has not said how much any single sponsor put in, and its online list sorts backers into five tiers without dollar amounts.

At the top sit the Bojangles Foundation and the State Employees’ Credit Union. Benchmark Education, a New York curriculum publisher, and its Reycraft Books imprint hold the presenting slot. The lead sponsors are MetaMetrics, the Durham firm behind Lexile reading measures, and Healthy Blue, a Medicaid plan operated for the state by Blue Cross NC. First Citizens Bank, the North Carolina Farm Bureau, Follett and the North Carolina Education Lottery are also on the list.

Green said the money will mainly go to promotion, including billboards and social media advertising. The state is not supplying books or prizes; schools and local backers will decide any rewards.

The challenge opens Jan. 1 for the roughly 1.5 million students in public schools across all 100 counties, from pre-K through 12th grade. Taking part is voluntary, with no test on what students read, and picture books, graphic novels, audiobooks and read-alouds all count. Hitting the goal means each student reading an average of under seven books.

Students, parents or teachers will log titles on a state website that flags suspiciously high entries for review, and schools get about a month to check their totals before results go public. So far, upward of 170 school systems and charters have joined.

Green modeled the effort on one he ran as Guilford County superintendent, where students beat a 1 million book goal. He also pointed to third-grade reading proficiency, which climbed to 55.3% last school year, leaving about 45% of third graders still below grade level. Groups that want their names on launch materials have until Dec. 14, ahead of a Jan. 7 kickoff to be held at a school.

Filed under: Raleigh NC Education News