N.C. school report cards in

NEW HANOVER COUNTY -- The statewide school report cards are in and you may surprised by the performance of some of the schools in our area.

The report says two nearby counties are well below the state average on end-of-grade scores and math and reading scores.

According to this year's annual school report cards New Hanover and Pender County school districts were well above the state average in reading and math for grades three-eight, well above for end-of-grade tests and well above the computer literacy tests.

New Hanover County Schools Spokesperson Karin Cox said, "The report card is just like a child's report card, there's going to be areas that need improvement and there's going to be areas that do really well."

Columbus and Brunswick Counties, however, did not fare so well.

While Brunswick County's schools did better overall than last year they are still below the state average in math and slightly below in reading. And the district's EOG scores may be dissapointing to some parents.

The Brunswick County School Board released a statement acknowledging the problem and says it is working to fix the scores. Exactly how is unclear.

Columbus County didn't do any better. Overall it was below the state average in almost every category.

What causes the difference among the counties? Officials in New Hanover County say economics tie directly into a child's education, along with the parents' education.

New Hanover County School Board member Al Lurch said, "We do know there is a direct correlation between the education level of the mother and the success of the child."

Even though Pender and New Hanover performed significantly higher than state averages all four counties did not meet the state's adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind act.

The school report cards also measure school safety and quality of administration.

If you want to see how your child's school performed visit http://www.ncreportcards.org/src/