By Charles R. Coble
Like many of you, I attended the December 26 funeral service in Wilson for Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. I traveled there with friends whose common thread was that of serving in different leadership roles in K-12 public education or higher education during the last two terms Governor Hunt was in office. We shared stories about our different experiences with the Governor and with Carolyn over those years. We recalled Governor Hunt’s First in America agenda that he had outlined in his State of the State address that kicked off his final four years in office.
While some other Southern Governors were working to advance public education in their states, Governor Hunt’s intense focus on K-16 education was unique in America at that time. He was relentless in his efforts to hold K-12 and higher education in North Carolina accountable for producing measurable improvements, even as he worked closely with the General Assembly to increase teacher pay and increase per pupil spending for public schools as part of the Governor’s ABC’s education program. Governor Hunt was a strong advocate of the Public School Forum of NC’s Teaching Fellows Program, and he advanced a 12% salary increase for teachers who became Nationally Board Certified. He supported funding for creating university-school partnerships for improving teacher preparation in the UNC system.
The collective impact of Governor Hunt’s drive to improve education was remarkable: teacher retention and teacher quality improved; student absenteeism was reduced and graduation rates increased. Most important, student achievement on all state and national tests improved significantly. North Carolina went from a “bottom-dweller” state to being competitive with Illinois, Ohio and other mid-level states in educational achievement. Governor Hunt believed that targeted investments and accountability would raise student achievement to the national average – and it did.
Concurrent with his relentless focus on education, the Governor worked closely with the business community to gain their support for his education agenda. Due to these efforts some major American and foreign high tech companies were attracted to NC. Governor Hunt forged a solid link between education and economic development and accelerated the flip from the state’s historic economic drivers – tobacco, textiles, and furniture – to a technology/knowledge-based economy.
Governor Stein and past-Governor Roy Cooper, in their remarks, captured the special character of Governor Hunt as well as our affection for the man who drove us hard to be better than maybe we thought we could be. It was special that former governors Mike Easley (D), Pat McRory (R), Jim Martin (R), and Bev Perdue (D) were present for Hunt’s state funeral. The words of the Hunts’ daughter, Lt. Governor Rachel Hunt, rang true when she said, “You are the people that helped make North Carolina’s the great place it is today and, along with my mother, he would never have been able to do the things he did with the state and this country.”
All of us worked in different ways with Governor Hunt and were honored to help him achieve his remarkable vision for North Carolina. We were proud that our Governor cared so deeply about public education in North Carolina. We were also proud that he was impacting education across the country through his leadership of the National Commission on Teaching for America’s Future and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and that we still have the largest number of National Board Certified teachers in the United States. We were proud that our NC School for Science and Mathematics and our NC Center for the Advancement of Teaching, two of Hunt’s initiatives, were models for the nation. We were inspired by him and know that during the time he was in office, North Carolina became the envy of the nation in improving and promoting public education.
More personally, in my post-retirement work as Director of Teacher Quality for the 50-state Education Commission of the States in Denver, CO (which the late Governor Terry Sanford co-created), it became even clearer to me that Governor Hunt had become the nation’s Education Governor. Governors and other state leaders, Republican and Democrat, all wanted his wise council and his voice to be heard in their states. Through the Hunt Center Governor Hunt expanded his impact on the nation. It will be another of his lasting legacies!
We’ll miss Governor Hunt, but let’s stay committed to his vision of what it takes to be first in the nation in public education. We know Rachel Hunt will carry that torch!
Charles R. Coble
December 31, 2025
Dr. Coble was Dean of the School of Education at East Carolina University for thirteen years before joining the University of North Carolina Office of the President in 1996. As Vice President for University-School Programs, Dr. Coble served as liaison with the fifteen UNC schools of education and was the University’s primary representative for all collaborative K-16 activities. In that capacity, Dr. Coble led the development of the University School Teacher Education Partnerships in all UNC teacher preparation institutions and organized the UNC Center for School Leadership Development, a confederation of eight high quality programs for the initial and continuing preparation of teachers and administrators. Dr. Coble is a former teacher, has a bachelor’s degree in botany, a master’s degree in science education, and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction, all from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
