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NC school funding showdown goes to court Monday. Will lawmakers be held in contempt?

The future of how North Carolina funds public schools could change in a Wake County courtroom on Monday.

State Superior Court Judge David Lee has given state lawmakers an Oct. 18 deadline to fully fund the first two years of a plan that calls for at least $5.6 billion in new education funding by 2028. Republican lawmakers have balked at the court order, so Lee has said that he’ll consider at the 10 a.m. hearing how he can force the General Assembly to fund the plan.

Here’s what you need to know heading into Monday’s court hearing in the long-running Leandro school funding case.

How does school funding work?

The state funds the cost of operating schools, which includes salaries for most school employees. Counties are responsible for funding school construction and maintenance but also can supplement what the state provides for operations.

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A wide disparity in funding has emerged between rural and urban school districts.

The Leandro school funding 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.

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 is in charge of overseeing the case.

The Leandro plan developed by the State Board of Education and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration calls for around $1.7 billion in new state funding over the next two years. The budgets adopted by the state House and Senate provide only a small percentage of that amount.

At a September court hearing, Lee said what lawmakers are providing is “woefully short of what is necessary to fund the constitutionally mandated requirement.”

Why it matters

Leaders of the Republican-controlled General Assembly say Lee is overstepping his authority. GOP lawmakers also say more state money is not necessarily the answer and that schools should tap into their federal COVID relief aid first.

“The North Carolina State constitution gives the legislature, not the courts, the authority to appropriate funds,” Demi Dowdy, a spokeswoman for House Speaker Tim Moore, said in a statement in September. “This is an arbitrary deadline that does not have the force of law.”

But the Leandro plan has been embraced by Democratic lawmakers and public school education advocacy groups. They point to how the state has more than $6 billion in unspent money that could be used to fund the plan.

“We’ve waited long enough,” state Rep. Julie von Haefen, a Wake County Democrat, said at a news conference last week. “We’ve waited 30 years or so for this to be implemented and the time for waiting is over.”

The Rev. Paul Ford says how the state responds will show its level of commitment to educating its 1.5 million public school students. Ford is president of the board of directors of Action4Equity, which describes itself as a Black-led group advocating for equity for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County students.

“We have the resources, we have the money,” Ford said at a news conference last week in front of the Legislative Building in Raleigh. “We need to muster the will.”

The Rev. Paul Ford speaks at a news conference in front of the Legislative Building in Raleigh, N.C. on Oct. 13, 2021. Ford urged the General Assembly to fund the Leandro plan.
The Rev. Paul Ford speaks at a news conference in front of the Legislative Building in Raleigh, N.C. on Oct. 13, 2021. Ford urged the General Assembly to fund the Leandro plan.

What’s next

Lee could potentially hold state lawmakers in contempt of court on Monday and begin issuing fines. That’s a step that’s been taken by judges in some other states to try to force additional school funding.

State House Democratic leader Rep. Robert Reives, of Chatham County, supports the Leandro plan. But Reives said Lee may hold off on taking action on Monday because the state budget is still being finalized.

But some education advocates want Lee to take action now.

“I want him to hold the legislature in contempt,” Renee Sekel, founder of Save Our Schools NC, said at a news conference last week. “That’s what happens when the legislature stands up and says they don’t recognize their constitutional duty.”

How can I be heard?

You can tell the state lawmakers who represent you what you think. While the leadership is just a few people, there are 170 state lawmakers in North Carolina — 50 senators and 120 representatives. Their office phone numbers and email addresses are listed on the General Assembly website, ncleg.gov.

“This impacts everybody,” Jenice Ramirez, executive director of ISLA NC, a group which works with low-income, Spanish-speaking students. “If your child is in the education system, this impacts your child and you should be paying attention, which means if your lawmakers aren’t making the right decisions, then they need to go.”

Ramirez spoke at a news conference last week supporting the Leandro plan.

Staff writer Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan contributed to this report.

For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at link.chtbl.com/underthedomenc or wherever you get your podcasts.

June 2021 Leandro Court Order by Keung Hui on Scribd

Leandro Comprehensive Remedial Plan by Keung Hui on Scribd