Leandro lawsuit is dead. But NC public school supporters say fight isn’t over
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- State Supreme Court dismissed the 32-year Leandro funding lawsuit, voiding recent rulings.
- Public school advocates vow to pressure the General Assembly and fund the Leandro plan.
- Groups plan May 1 protests and ballot efforts to change legislature and court majorities.
Public education supporters are livid that the North Carolina Supreme Court threw out the Leandro school funding case, but they say they aren’t giving up the fight for more public school funding.
Last week, the Supreme Court dismissed the 32-year-old Leandro lawsuit — in the process throwing out a 2022 ruling that found that the courts could intervene to order more money for schools. At multiple events on Wednesday, public school groups lamented the dismissal of the Leandro case and discussed next steps, including putting more pressure on the General Assembly to increase public school funding.
“The Supreme Court let us down,” Yevonne Brannon, chair of Public Schools First NC, said at rally Wednesday morning in front of the Legislative Building in Raleigh. “But don’t let our legislators forget that we’re counting on them to fund our public schools.”
The Leandro case was dismissed at a time when North Carolina has been ranked last in the nation on public school funding by the Education Law Center. At the same time, supporters of the lawsuit complain that the state is spending more than $500 million a year on private school vouchers while not having approved a state budget this year for public schools.
GOP legislative leaders back dismissing Leandro suit
The Leandro case was first filed in 1994 by five low-wealth school districts and some parents in those districts to try to increase state funding. Over the next 30+ years, the case led to multiple Supreme Court rulings, including finding that the state Constitution guarantees students the right to a sound basic education.
Last week, the state Supreme Court’s Republican majority ruled that state courts do not have the constitutional authority to make education policy decisions. The court majority dismissed the lawsuit and ruled that every decision issued since 2017 is void, including the 2022 decision by the former Democratic majority allowing the court-ordered transfer of money to schools.
The new court decision was hailed by Republican legislative leaders who had gone to court to block the money transfer.
“For decades, liberal education special interests have improperly tried to hijack North Carolina’s constitutional funding process in order to impose their policy preferences via judicial fiat,” Senate leader Phil Berger said in a statement last week. ”Today’s decision confirms that the proper pathway for policymaking is the legislative process.”
Berger’s son, Associate Justice Phil Berger Jr., was one of the judges who supported the 4-3 decision to dismiss the case.
House Speaker Destin Hall’s office said last week that the court ruling “rightly recognizes the constitutional role of the North Carolina General Assembly, since the state Constitution entrusts sole appropriations authority to the legislature.”
Leandro lawsuit dismissed on a ‘technicality’
But Jackie McLean, one of the original plaintiffs in the Leandro lawsuit, called last week’s ruling “insanity” during an online briefing Wednesday organized by the group Every Child NC.
“We are really heartbroken,” McLean said. “We are disgusted at the fact that the courts would dismiss, overlook, disenfranchise, and further violate our students constitutional rights to a sound basic education from this ruling,”
In last week’s ruling, the court said the lawsuit was improperly expanded to be a statewide case in 2017.
“To have it be ended on a technical issue the way it has been is just really frustrating, because it’s not about these legal technicalities,” said Matt Ellinwood, director of the N.C. Justice Center’s Education and Law Project. “This is something that’s about kids’ rights, educational opportunities and what that means for their futures.”
Leandro supporters ‘mourn’ dismissal of lawsuit
Last week’s court ruling killed the court-approved Leandro plan, which is a blueprint for trying to ensure every student has access to highly qualified teachers and principals.
The plan called for $5.6 billion in spending over eight years for things such as hiring more instructional assistants, providing more funding for high-need students and expanded pre-K access.
“We gather here today to mourn for resources and opportunities that students have lost,” said Chris Brook, a former attorney for some of the plaintiffs in the Leandro lawsuit. “But we also gather here today to remind everyone that the idea that the state has a responsibility to provide all students a sound basic education has been, and I am confident will be again, uncontroversial in the state of North Carolina.”
The Leandro plan should still be funded by state lawmakers, according to Kris Nordstrom, a senior policy analyst with the N.C. Justice Center’s Education and Law Project.
“This is the bare minimum,” Nordstrom said. “It’s not the end goal for where we all think our schools need to be and deserve to be, but it is the first step and the bare minimum for what our students deserve.”
Groups back NCAE May 1 march in Raleigh
With the court case ended, public school groups are now looking to the ballot box to bring change. This includes breaking the Republican majority in the General Assembly and state Supreme Court.
Several groups are hoping to ramp up the lobbying efforts by backing a May 1 mass protest in Raleigh organized by the North Carolina Association of Educators. Depending on how many teachers attend, it could cause some schools to have to cancel classes that Friday if they don’t have enough adults to supervise students.
“We’re all turning out to stand with school staff and educators kids over corporations. May 1st,” said Sarah Montgomery of Every Child NC. “We’re not going anywhere, folks.”
Tamika Walker Kelly, president of NCAE, told the attendees at Wednesday’s rally in front of the Legislative Building that public school supporters “are drawing our line in the sand” at the May 1 rally.
“Every educator, every parent, every community member who shows up on May 1 sends a message to our legislators in this building that North Carolina must put our kids over corporations,” Walker Kelly said to cheers from the crowd. “So will you join me on May 1?”
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