Opinion: Will the state Supreme Court shirk its duty to NC’s students?

The state Supreme Court is scheduled to issue its final tranche of rulings for the year on Dec. 13. The most significant pending decision is in the Leandro case – the 30-year effort by public school districts to force the legislature to meet its constitutional duty of providing a sound basic education for every child.

A decision in Leandro is well overdue. Arguments were heard in February and the prior opinion was issued on Nov. 4, 2022. It has now been two years since the court-ordered funding for public schools has been held up with no explanation or justification by Chief Justice Paul Newby or the Republican court majority.

If the court once again ducks its responsibility by refusing to rule on Leandro or explain its lack of action, the conclusion is clear: Newby is sitting on this case for purely political reasons and hoping the citizens of North Carolina will not notice this indefensible dereliction of duty and affront to our state’s children, educators, and parents. It would unfortunately represent another sordid chapter in Newby’s politicization of our courts in service to the GOP legislative leadership’s agenda. 

The Newby court’s maneuvering in the Leandro case is unprecedented. When the plaintiffs finally prevailed in 2022, the Supreme Court originally upheld the lower court ruling that the state must release over $1.7 billion to pay for teachers, principals, and programs for students from pre-K to high school. 

However, after Republicans won a court majority in 2022, the court agreed to hear new arguments from GOP legislative leaders over whether their predecessors were wrong in ordering the school funding. By agreeing to hear their arguments, Newby broke with a century-long precedent that the court would not disturb its prior holdings in the same case. Additionally, Justice Phil Berger, Jr. refused to recuse himself from the case despite his father, state Senate Pro Tem Phil Berger, Sr. serving as one of the primary initiators and defendants.

Eight in 10 of the state’s K-12 students attend public schools. Yet the legislature’s systemic underfunding of public schools has been appalling even before their recent expansion of private school vouchers. North Carolina ranks 48th in state per-pupil funding and dead last nationally in its overall school funding effort. The academic outcomes are clear. According to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, nearly half of North Carolina public school students cannot read at grade level by eighth grade and even more do not have a complete understanding of the material they are being taught. Ultimately, this neglect robs students of the basic skills they need for successful careers and undermines our state’s economy.

Instead of fulfilling their Constitutional duty to the children and citizens of North Carolina, Chief Justice Newby and his Republican majority appear poised to lower themselves and our state judiciary to a new level of obfuscation and political gamesmanship.