NC鈥檚 Top Court Compels State to Turn Over $800 Million in School Funding Case
While the court planted a 鈥榝lag post鈥� in the ongoing saga, Republicans call the ruling 鈥渦nconstitutional鈥� and promise to fight it
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A recent by North Carolina鈥檚 top court compels the state to turn over close to $800 million to the education system, a move that could influence other states facing challenges over the adequacy of public school funding
In a 4-3 ruling handed down Nov. 4, the North Carolina Supreme Court took the matter out of the legislature鈥檚 hands after almost 30 years of litigation and ordered officials to transfer the funds directly from the state treasury to agencies overseeing education and teacher preparation.
鈥淔ar too many North Carolina schoolchildren, especially those historically marginalized, are not afforded their constitutional right to the opportunity to a sound basic education,鈥� Associate Justice Robin Hudson wrote in the majority opinion in Hoke County Board of Education v. North Carolina. The state, she said, 鈥渉as proven 鈥� for an entire generation 鈥� either unable or unwilling to fulfill its constitutional duty.鈥�
Part of a wave of lawsuits from the 1990s that challenged inequitable school funding systems, the case 鈥� first known as Leandro v. North Carolina 鈥� shed light on the lack of educational opportunities in five rural counties, where underqualified teachers, scarce supplies and outdated textbooks were the norm. The plaintiff districts argued that the state was responsible for making up the funding gap between poor and wealthy districts.
The case languished in the courts even as the state amassed a budget surplus following the Great Recession. Derek Black, a law professor at the University of South Carolina, said the ruling sends a signal to other states that legislators can鈥檛 ignore the law.
鈥淭he games that legislatures play are 鈥� wars on the right to education, wars on the constitution,鈥� said Black, who attended 鈥渕arathon鈥� hearings on the case when he was in law school at the University of North Carolina. 鈥淲hen the judiciary speaks, there is not some other option.鈥�
Republicans, who dominate the legislature, are already pushing back, and with the GOP gaining a 5-2 majority on the Supreme Court in last week鈥檚 election, some are floating the possibility of a reversal.
鈥淧rediction: Not a dime of taxpayer money is ultimately spent on this unprecedented and unconstitutional order before it is blocked and reversed by a newly seated N.C. Supreme Court next year,鈥� Brent Woodcox, a Republican senior policy counsel for the North Carolina legislature.
In his dissent in the case, Associate Justice Phil Berger Jr. set the stage for a backlash. He wrote that the ruling 鈥渟trips鈥� the legislature of its authority over education policy and funding and amounts to 鈥減ernicious extension of judicial power.鈥�
But in the majority opinion, Hudson sought to limit the ruling鈥檚 scope, writing that it applies 鈥渋n exactly one circumstance鈥� 鈥� this case 鈥� and wouldn鈥檛 have been necessary if 鈥渞ecalcitrant state actors鈥� had addressed the funding inequities.
Lawrence Picus, a school finance expert at the University of Southern California, said the closest example to this ruling he has seen is a 2015 order from the Washington Supreme Court that held the state legislature and issued a $100,000-a-day fine until lawmakers agreed on a way to adequately fund schools as mandated by the court鈥檚 opinion in .
That day didn鈥檛 come until June, 2018, when the court ruled that the state had increased the education budget enough to be in compliance. Penalties, which by that time had reached over $100 million, also went to schools.
鈥淐ourts are generally extremely reluctant to order the legislature to do something,鈥� Picus said. 鈥淚n North Carolina, they鈥檙e doing it for them.鈥�
Funding the 鈥榬emedial鈥� plan
Originally named for Hoke County Schools student Robb Leandro and his mother, the North Carolina case began in 1994 when families from five rural districts sued the state and its board of education. The lack of well-qualified teachers, they argued, left students less likely than those in wealthier counties to be proficient in core subjects and to enter college without needing remediation.
Despite the trial court siding with the plaintiffs year after year, lawmakers never complied with the orders and, following the Great Recession, cut education by a further 13.9% in per-student funding, according to .
But then the financial picture improved 鈥� a lot 鈥� and this year, the state has a $6 billion surplus.
A year ago, the trial court ordered the state to spend $1.7 billion to help fund an eight-year developed byWestEd, a consulting firm. The funds would cover teacher and principal training, revisions to the school funding formula and expansion of the state鈥檚 pre-K system.
The state later passed a budget partially funding the plan, and the trial court revised the figure to $785 million. The Supreme Court鈥檚 ruling upholds that decision.
Republican House Speaker Tim Moore told local reporters the legislature the ruling, while attorneys with Parker Poe, a law firm that represents the plaintiffs, said that鈥檚 not an option.
鈥榃hether they agree with it or not鈥�
Like Black, Ann McColl has seen her law career intertwined with the Leandro saga. Co-founder of The Innovation Project, a school leadership network, she represented and wrote briefs in the case on behalf of educator and school board associations.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always the case that people react to a court opinion, and see how they can maneuver around it,鈥� she said. But North Carolina lawmakers, she added, are showing a 鈥渃ertain vigor鈥� in their objections.
There’s a potential for the ruling to influence a school finance lawsuit in Pennsylvania. Earlier this year, an appellate court heard four months of testimony in that case, with attorneys for legislative leaders arguing that students don鈥檛 need to go to college if they鈥檙e on 聽The case is expected to make its way to the state supreme court.
Until now, Black added, the so-called 1989 鈥淩ose decision鈥� in Kentucky stood as the most forceful ruling in school finance. The state supreme court ruled that Kentucky鈥檚 entire education system was unconstitutional and of an adequate education.
The North Carolina decision goes further by ruling that schools needn鈥檛 wait for lawmakers to act.
鈥淭he court just put down a flag post,鈥� Black said, 鈥渁nd every single court that grapples with this issue in the future will discuss this flag post, whether they agree with it or not.鈥�
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