The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction is the agency charged with implementing the State's public school laws and the State Board of Education's policies and procedures governing pre-kindergarten through 12th grade public education. The elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction heads the Department and functions under the policy direction of the State Board of Education.

The agency has approximately 530 positions providing leadership and service to local public school districts and schools in the areas of curriculum and instruction, accountability, finance, teacher and administrator preparation and licensing, professional development and school business support and operations.

The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) develops the Standard Course of Study which describes the subjects and course content that should be taught in North Carolina public schools and develops the assessments and accountability model used to evaluate school and district success. The DPI administers annual public school funds totaling approximately $7 billion in state and federal funds and licenses the approximately 100,000 teachers and administrators serving in public schools.

The DPI's primary offices are in Raleigh, NC, with three regional alternative licensing centers in Charlotte, Fayetteville and Nashville. The state agency works closely with nine Regional Education Service Alliances/Consortia across the state as well as directly with the state's 115 local education agencies.

North Carolina's public schools will create a system that will be customer-driven with local flexibility to achieve mastery of core skills with high levels of accountability in areas of student achievement

NEW CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER NAMED FOR NC DPI

The State Board of Education today appointed Peter N. Asmar as the Department of Public Instruction's Chief Information Officer.

Asmar comes to this position from J.P. Morganchase where he served since 2002 as the Global Technology Chief Operating Officer and Technology Services Vice President. Asmar's experience at J.P Morganchase began in 1993 and included a variety of leadership roles in technology, financial and resource management and client/vendor relations. Prior to these experiences, Asmar also worked in a variety of financial technology positions with Credit Suisse First Boston, International Paper Company and UPS.

Asmar has a bachelor's degree in economics from Brookyn College of the City University and a master's degree in business administration in finance from New York Institute of Technology.

State Board of Education Chairman Howard Lee said that the Board welcomed Asmar's leadership and expertise. "Strong leadership in the area of information and technology is critical for the progress of public schools in North Carolina. Mr. Asmar brings a strong track record of leadership and technical expertise to help us better manage the resources of data, information and technology."

Asmar will begin work at the Department of Public Instruction on March 3. As Chief Information Officer, he will lead the Technology Services area. This includes a variety of project areas, including NC WISE and SIMS, instructional technology, student information and accountability systems and the enterprise project management office.

Asmar replaces Dr. Bob Bellamy, former CIO, who retired on Feb. 28.

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction is located at:

NC State Board of Education
6302 Mail Service Center,
301 North Wilmington Street
Raleigh, NC 27699-6302.

Phone: 919/807-3304
fax: 919/807-3198