NC judge could order state to hand over $1.7 billion in new public school funding
A North Carolina judge could order the state on Wednesday to turn over $1.7 billion to increase funding for public education, over the objections of Republican lawmakers.
The plaintiffs in the long-running Leandro school funding court battle have proposed requiring the state budget director, state controller and state treasurer to turn over $1.7 billion to fund the next two years of a new education plan. State Superior Court Judge David Lee has scheduled a court hearing in Raleigh on Wednesday to consider their proposal.
“This Court cannot permit the State to continue failing to effectuate the right to a sound basic education guaranteed to the people of North Carolina, nor can it indefinitely wait for the State to act,” the plaintiffs say in their proposed court order, which was obtained first by WRAL.
Senate Republicans said in a press release Monday they expect Lee will attempt to order the transfer of funds, which they say would be unconstitutional.
“When Judge Lee orders the executive branch to withdraw state funds, he will be in clear violation of the Constitution and the law,” according to the Senate GOP press release. “That is why the legislature is unhappy with Judge Lee — his behavior is prompting something of a constitutional crisis.”
The Leandro case was initially filed in 1994 by low-wealth school districts to get more state funding. The case is named after a student from Hoke County who has since graduated from college.
Over the years, the state Supreme Court has ruled that the state Constitution guarantees every child “an opportunity to receive a sound basic education” and that the state was failing to meet that obligation. Lee, a retired Union County judge and registered Democrat, was assigned the case by the Supreme Court in 2016
Multi-billion dollar education plan
In June, Lee approved a 7-year plan agreed to by the State Board of Education, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration and the plaintiffs. The $5.6 billion plan includes things such as a 5% pay raise for teachers, more funding for low-wealth school districts and expansion of the NC Pre-K program.
The new state budget is still being developed, so it’s unclear how much of the Leandro plan will be funded. But Lee has criticized lawmakers for not fully funding the first two years of the plan, around $1.7 billion, in their earlier budget proposals.
In September, Lee gave state lawmakers a deadline to either fund the Leandro plan or he’d intervene. Similar legal action has been used by courts in other states to increase public education funding.
Last month, Lee asked plaintiffs to submit a proposed court order on how the court could get the plan funded. The hearing occurred the same day a group of religious leaders held a prayer vigil calling on the plan to be fully funded.
The plaintiffs propose that Lee order that $1.5 billion be given to the state Department of Public Instruction, $190 million to the state Department of Health and Human Services and $41 million to the UNC System to implement the Leandro plan.
The plaintiffs point to how the state is sitting on a budget surplus of more than $6 billion. Plaintiffs also say that, despite GOP claims, the state Constitution does empower the courts to act when the other branches refuse to carry out their constitutional obligations.
“Presently, the State’s ability to meet this constitutional obligation is not in question,” according to the proposed court order. “The unappropriated funds in the State Treasury greatly exceed the funds needed to implement the Comprehensive Remedial Plan.”
GOP questions Cooper’s role in Leandro plan
Republican legislative leaders are charging there’s a conspiracy behind the Leandro plan and the pending court order.
The Leandro plan is largely based on a report done by WestEd, an outside consultant brought in by the plaintiffs and defendants. Berger’s press office points to how WRAL first reported last week that the Cooper administration paid most of the $2 million to fund the WestEd report. WRAL reported that private foundations also helped fund the WestEd report.
Cooper went on to include the first two years of the Leandro plan in his budget proposal.
“The ‘defendants’ and ‘plaintiffs’ in this case are political allies,’ Berger’s press office said in a press release last week. “They paid a group of consultants to recommend a spending plan favored by and funded by the Cooper Administration, and they found an unelected judge to order the spending over the objections of the legislature.”
Watch the Leandro hearing live
You can listen online to the Wednesday 2 p.m. court hearing in the Leandro case.
▪ Go to www.webex.com.
▪ Select Join A Meeting in the upper right corner.
▪ In the text box, enter the Webex Courtroom meeting number of 146 102 8618 and select continue.
▪ Test your video and audio settings and make sure your microphone is muted so you don’t interrupt the hearing.
▪ Select Join Meeting.
This story was originally published November 8, 2021 at 11:34 AM with the headline "NC judge could order state to hand over $1.7 billion in new public school funding."
