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Opportunity Culture® Statewide Initatives

Expand excellent student results and excellent educator careers across your state!

As Opportunity Culture® staffing and instructional design continues to expand across the United States, several states have initiatives of note.

In 2026–27, more than 40 new school systems will begin their funded design phase. If you are a funder or state leader interested in reaching students with more learning growth and teachers with far more support and pay, contact us, and we will start matching you with interested districts and charter organizations.

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New Mexico

In fall 2026, the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) won a $12 million federal TSL grant (Teacher and School Leader Incentive Program) to help high-need schools address teacher shortages by using Opportunity Culture® staffing and instructional design and integrating pre-service candidates. The grant supports PED’s New Mexico Aspiring to Rewarding Careers (NM ARC) initiative.

As more sign on, eight sites are already beginning design in 2026–27 as the first of two cohorts under this grant, which will include both traditional districts and charter management organizations.

Several New Mexico districts already use OC® design or will begin implementation next year; Carlsbad Municipal Schools was the first, with state-leading results in reading and math using Multi-Classroom Leader® teams, including Desert Willow Elementary, which posted the highest growth in the state in the literacy proficiency rate among medium-size schools, and PR Leyva Middle, with the fourth-highest growth in the math proficiency rate among large schools and the 17th-highest in literacy.

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North Carolina

North Carolina districts have been using Opportunity Culture® design since its inception, beginning with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in 2013, which quickly achieved strong learning and teacher satisfaction results and rapidly expanded its use to now include 177 of its 184 schools.

North Carolina awards funds annually for districts to develop advanced, higher-paid roles for educators through its Advanced Teaching Roles grants. Since 2016, over 70% of districts—and 83% of schools—receiving ATR grants have used Opportunity Culture® staffing designs in their applications, and North Carolina schools using these designs outpace others in the state in student results. 

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Oklahoma

In 2026–27, a second cohort of districts is receiving funded assistance to design and implement Opportunity Culture® design, with sites small and large planning how to attract, retain, and support educators and help them excel and improve student learning outcomes.

The pioneering Oklahoma cohort of Hulbert School District and RISE STEAM Academy began implementing their designs in fall 2026. 

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Will your state be next?

Hear what past and present superintendents have to say about using Opportunity Culture® models:

“Opportunity Culture is the closest thing to a silver bullet that I've seen in my career—and we are always looking for a silver bullet."

—Carlsbad Municipal Schools (New Mexico) Superintendent Gerry Washburn

“Honestly, it's a no-brainer. When you put a very effective teacher in front of more students, obviously you have more students that are going to be able to achieve and grow."

—Hulbert Public Schools (Oklahoma) Superintendent Jolyn Choate

“We see this as a strategic opportunity to change teaching and learning in our schools."

—North Carolina 2020 Superintendent of the Year Anthony Jackson

“The Opportunity Culture model has allowed us to extend the reach of our most effective teachers.”

—2024 A. Craig Phillips North Carolina Superintendent of the Year, Marvin Connelly, Jr.