Governor McCrory's Education Advisor Leaving For National Post | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Raleigh, N.C.     Governor Pat McCrory announced today Eric Guckian, his Senior Education Advisor, has accepted a leadership position with a national education advocacy group.

    "Eric's passion for students and teachers helped us achieve improvements that reach into every classroom in North Carolina," Governor McCrory said. "I am grateful for his service and look forward to his continued contributions in his new role."

    Guckian will become Vice President of Alliances for Leadership for Educational Equity, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering Teach For America (TFA) corps members and alumni to grow as leaders and help build the movement for educational equity. Guckian is a TFA alum having served as Executive Director for Teach For America, North Carolina. Guckian began his teaching career in New York City as a Teach For America elementary school science teacher.

    During his tenure with Governor McCrory, Guckian was instrumental in helping pass one of the largest teacher raises in the state's history which provided an average salary increase of seven percent and raised the base pay for beginning teachers. During Guckian's time as education advisor, Governor McCrory has committed nearly $1 billion in new money for teacher raises and educator investments.

    He helped implement "Closing the Skills Gap" legislation which reallocated $16 million from enrollment reduction at the state's community colleges into courses that trained students in high demand fields.

    He helped Governor McCrory revive a dormant Education Cabinet, which places the heads on the state pre-K, K-12, community college and university systems at one table working in collaboration for the benefit of North Carolina's students. He also helped create the "Governor's Teacher Network" which reallocated over $6 million Race to the Top dollars into teachers developing high quality lesson plans online so that all 110,000 teachers can benefit from sharing best practices. He also helped Governor McCrory reestablish the Governor's Teacher Advisory Committee which consists of classroom teachers from throughout the state. The teacher's advisory committee was instrumental in the formulation of the governor's pay proposals.

    "I'd like to thank Governor McCrory for the tremendous privilege of serving the over 2 million students in our great state," said Eric Guckian. "Whether it is a kindergartner learning to read or an adult accessing our storied higher education system, the Governor has always kept student achievement and access to a better life at the forefront of every decision. I'd also like to thank North Carolina's teachers, parents, students and education leaders for their support along the way; the best education solutions always came from those closest to the schoolhouse."

    Guckian's last day as Senior Education Advisor will be July 31. Governor McCrory will be naming Guckian's successor in the near future.

• Contact: Crystal Feldman
•     govpress@nc.gov