Public School Quality
One rating of 600 school districts found the Raleigh-Durham districts outperforming all other metro area school districts in the state and districts in such cities as Austin, Nashville, Tampa, and Richmond, in a composite rating of student outcomes, resources, and community educational environment. With a national average of 100, the system for Raleigh/Wake County scored a 109.6 and the Durham County system a 107.6. Educational measures are given below.


Public School Report Card
  Chatham County Durham County Franklin County Granville County Harnett County Johnston County Lee County Moore County
Attendance Measures                
Attendance Ratio 96.50% 93.70% 96.30% 96.30% 94.60% 95.60% 95.20% 95.70%
Drop Out Rate 4.38% 5.48% 4.94% 4.11% 4.80% 4.84% 5.10% 3.20%
Per Pupil Expend. $6,182.04 $6,832.73 $5,565.48 $5,623.30 $5,323.51 $5,463.10 $5,684.36 $5,844.91
Student Outcomes                
# of Graduates 330 1,259 354 292 622 839 387 598
Average SAT 983 994 960 971 960 970 963 990
Vocational Educ. Completers 150 316 116 165 355 333 175 264

  Orange County Chapel Hill/ Carrboro County Person County Vance County Wake County Warren County Research Triangle Region
Attendance Measures              
Attendance Ratio 94.10% 94.20% 96.30% 93.30% 95.10% 94.90% 95.00%
Drop Out Rate 3.51% 1.54% 4.62% 6.98% 3.07% 4.85% 4.39%
Per Pupil Expend. $6,884.43 $7,423.29 $5,605.92 $5,968.84 $5,877.63 $6,410.22 $6,049.27
Student Outcomes              
# of Graduates 313 489 283 264 4,717 132 10,879
Average SAT 994 1,175 941 858 1,054 988 1,019
Vocational Educ. Completers 80 35 165 126 1,085 60 3,425
Source: All information is from the North Carolina Public Schools and Public Instruction
  • % scoring at or above the proficient level in core courses in NC end-of-course tests.
  • Attendance Ratio (1998-1999)
  • Drop Out Rate (1998-1999)
  • Per Pupil Expenditures (1998-1999)
  • Number of Graduates (2000 projection)
  • SAT Scores (2000)
  • Vocational Education Completers (1999-2000)


2000 SAT Verbal, Mathematics and Total Scores for School Systems and Special Schools
County Number Tested Percent Tested Math Score Verbal Score Total Score
Chatham 205 64.7 494 489 983
Durham 956 75.5 500 494 994
Franklin 167 45 477 483 960
Granville 144 45.1 487 484 971
Harnett 314 47.4 479 481 960
Johnston 472 53 492 478 970
Lee 232 51.8 495 468 963
Moore 332 54.6 495 495 990
Orange 218 71.2 501 493 994
Chapel Hill / Carrboro 460 90.6 592 583 1,175
Person 155 57.4 470 471 941
Vance 164 57.1 427 431 858
Wake 3,860 77.9 539 522 1,061
Warren 79 61.7 440 446 886
RT Region 7,758 65.6 530 524 1,054
North Carolina 43,077 64 496 492 988
United States 1,260,278 44 514 505 1,019
Source: Public Schools of NC: Department of Public Instruction


Research Triangle Regional Partnership
PO Box 80756 - RDU Airport, NC 27623 - Voice (919) 840-7372 - Fax (919) 840-0142