The North Carolina Supreme Court issued a new round of opinions last week, but once again left unresolved the Leandro school funding case, a decades-old legal fight over the state’s obligation to provide a “sound, basic education” to its public school students.
The Leandro case dates back to 1994, when five low-wealth, rural counties sued the state over insufficient school funding. In 1997, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that the state was violating students’ constitutional right to a sound, basic education, a decision that has been upheld multiple times since.
Democrats controlled the legislature until 2011, but did not provide the funding needed to solve the problem. In recent years, Republicans have similarly declined to appropriate the full amount called for by a remedial plan..
The most recent substantive ruling came in November 2022, when the court ordered the General Assembly to fund the first two years of the Comprehensive Remedial Plan. After the court shifted to a 5-2 Republican majority in 2023, the justices granted Republican lawmakers’ request to reconsider that decision.
The court heard oral arguments in February 2024 but has yet to issue a final ruling. The case has now been pending at the state Supreme Court for more than 600 days.
Republican lawmakers have argued that the state constitution gives the legislature alone the power to decide how taxpayer money is spent, and that courts lack the authority to tell them how to spend it.
The delay is not just a legal limbo, advocates say: it has worsened the financial and staffing crisis across the state’s public schools. North Carolina ranks near the bottom nationally when it comes to teacher pay and per-pupil funding.
In a virtual press conference Monday, advocates and parents said the court’s prolonged inaction is depriving 1.5 million students of critical resources.
“There is one word that defines what is happening right now, and I want everyone to remember this word: neglect,” said Tamika Walker Kelly, president of the North Carolina Association of Educators. “They neglected their needs for books and classrooms. They neglected their need for school counselors and nurses in our buildings. They neglected the need for us to have safe buildings, smaller class sizes and educators who are supported, not exhausted and burnt out.”
Sharita Jones, a teacher from Vance County, one of the original communities that filed the suit, said that fully funding the plan would directly address these shortfalls. “The heart of Leandro is simple: every child in North Carolina deserves access to a sound basic education no matter their zip code. Fully funding Leandro would mean smaller class sizes, more support staff such as counselors, social workers and nurses, and competitive pay that allows us to recruit and retain strong educators,” she said.
Melissa Price Kromm, executive director of N.C. For The People Action and a longtime voting rights advocate, recounted the impact of underfunding on her 10-year-old daughter’s education. “My daughter didn’t have a teacher for nearly half of this past school year, and before that, she went through most of kindergarten without a teacher. We are still working to close the gaps in her education because of it,” she said.
“The remedy is not a mystery,” Kromm added. “North Carolina has a court-ordered comprehensive remedial plan that lays out exactly what is needed. The courts have said they must fund it, but year after year, the General Assembly has refused to comply fully.”
Rep. Julie von Haefen (D-Wake) has spent the past six years introducing bills to fully fund the plan, but the Republican-controlled House has blocked them.
Organizers closed the virtual press conference by calling for broader civic engagement and pressure on state lawmakers.
“Speaking up and speaking out is going to take more than just educators,” Jones said. “People in support have to start letting lawmakers know their concerns and informing others who may not know what’s going on.”
Neither state House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell) nor state Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) responded to a request for comment.
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