Wicker, seeking the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in the May 2 primary, spoke of expanding Smart Start, reducing class sizes in kindergarten through third grade, establishing a 4-year-old kindergarten in public schools and paying teachers above the national average.

Much of that agenda would fit into his goal of making sure that all third-graders in North Carolina read at or above the third-grade level, he said.

If that happens, chances are those children will do better in middle and high school, Wicker said. Today, a third of the third-grade population in North Carolina reads below grade level, and Wicker contends that many of those kids go on to have trouble in later grades and outside school.

If a child has a choice in the higher grades of looking stupid or being bad, Wicker said, he or she usually chooses to be bad.

Making sure kids do well early in school will have long-term, positive effects on some of society’s greatest problems: a booming prison population, teen pregnancies, school drop-outs and drug abuse, Wicker said.

Speaking at the Rowan County Courthouse to a good-sized Superior Courtroom crowd, Wicker never mentioned his support for a statewide lottery to pay for the 4-year-old kindergarten program and free college scholarships for high school students with a B average or better.

Wicker, a two-term lieutenant governor, praised the late Terry Sanford as the Democratic governor who led the state’s first great movement forward in the 1960s. He said Gov. Jim Hunt lead the second great movement forward in the ’90s.

Wicker also described Hunt as the greatest governor in America “to this point,” and he promised that he could be the Democratic governor to chaperone the state’s third great movement ahead.

Wicker described himself as an environmental champion responsible for a moratorium on hazardous waste treatment facilities in the state. He also said he has challenged the most influential and powerful lobby in the state, the “pig lobby,” in his call for the end to hog lagoons within three to five years.

Hurricane Floyd demonstrated the need to eliminate hog lagoons as soon as possible, Wicker said. The hurricane caused 46 hog lagoons to overflow and six to breach. If they aren’t eliminated, North Carolina eventually will face the worst economic and environmental devastation in its history, Wicker said.

Wicker said the state must have skilled, trained workers who out-produce world competitors and, in doing so, attract new industries. He strongly supports a state investment in technology in both the schools and state government.

Above all, Wicker reminded his partisan crowd, Democrats are the party of the people.

“We care about one another,” he said. “We want to build North Carolina up.”

Wicker, 47, lives in Sanford. He served in the N.C. House for 12 years, rising to majority leader, before being elected as lieutenant governor in 1992 and again in 1996.

Mary Anne Davis heads his campaign in Rowan County, and she and her husband, Bob, hosted a reception for Wicker at their home before Thursday’s meeting. Bob Davis said Wicker has demonstrated a spirit of good will and leadership in Raleigh.

Former N.C. Rep. Robie Nash of Salisbury attended the meeting to greet Wicker. The pair were seatmates as N.C. House members in the 1980s.

Wicker’s challengers for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination include Attorney General Mike Easley and Bob Ayers of Swansboro, Kenneth Gottfried of Sugar Grove (formerly of Salisbury), Brian Ipack of Ernul, Roger Maines of Lewisville and Ken Rogers of Raleigh.