November 15, 2023, CARRBORO, N.C.—Three of the nation’s largest school districts—Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Fort Worth, and Montgomery County (Maryland)—have been awarded a $7.7 million federal grant for widespread implementation of Opportunity Culture® innovative staffing models, which Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools pioneered with Public Impact®’s support in 2013. With the Teacher and School Leader Incentive Program (TSL) grant, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will expand its use of these models to all of its schools over three years, while the Fort Worth and Montgomery County districts will launch and expand the models over three years.
Districts using Opportunity Culture® designs implement innovative staffing models that help schools reach all students with excellent teaching, consistently, and all educators with excellent, paid career opportunities. Public Impact®, which founded the national Opportunity Culture® initiative, is marking its 10th year supporting implementation of the models, which extend the reach of excellent teachers and the small teams they lead to more students, for more pay, within regular school budgets.
Public Impact® will support Montgomery County (MCPS) and Fort Worth (FWISD) in launching and spreading Opportunity Culture® models and provide Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) with data analysis to inform its expansion.