As I travel around the state, I am sometimes asked by well-meaning skeptics: "Instead of providing additional options to students, why not build it within our existing traditional public school system?"

This question is understandable. For many defenders of traditional public schools, government funding for public charter schools and private schools makes them cringe. And, while there is a small minority of people who believe that public schools - or as they say, "government-run schools" - are inadequate and not worth investing in, I am not one of them.

My position on public education reform was perhaps best described in the award-winning 2011 documentary, "Waiting for Superman." When studying the quality of public education compared to yesteryear, researchers found that formerly high-performing schools had become low-performing schools, and that the low academic scores may have very little to do with the state of the actual school in question. In fact, the real issue may have more to do with the major decline and devastation in the communities that surround the school - in warp speed.

Think about it. When I attended public schools in the textile town of Kannapolis 23 years ago, North Carolina was an economic leader in textile manufacturing. Today in my hometown, where textile mill smoke stacks once stood, there are bright, brick biotech research buildings. Further, North Carolina was also a leader in tobacco farming and furniture production.

Consider this: Twenty-three years ago, 70 percent of the African-American households were two-parent households. Today, more than 70 percent of the African-American households are one-parent. And while I would in no way imply that our single mothers are somehow inadequate, I'm appalled that they had no choice in the matter.

Tough statistics and hard facts like these have me spinning the question back on those same well-meaning skeptics: Given the plight of our families, communities and the impact of a new global economy, why should we expect our traditional public schools to wrestle with these challenges alone? Now more than ever, we must be open to new ideas, innovation and change.

Change is constant. All of us must adapt. And our public education system is no different.

When slightly more than 30 percent of children from low-income communities meet grade standards in Cumberland County, it is clear that these parents deserve greater educational options for their child, traditional or nontraditional.

And when you add these countywide numbers to statewide figures, the number of children who are unable to perform at grade level is jaw-dropping.

According to the state Department of Public Instruction, 70 percent of low-income North Carolina students failed to demonstrate proficiency of their subject - that's 7 out of 10 students.

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Columnist-Darrell Allison: 'As the World Turns, So Does Education'