A North Carolina judge has set a mid-October deadline for state lawmakers to follow a court-ordered plan to provide full funding for improving public education or he will take action himself.

State Superior Court Judge David Lee said he was “very disheartened” that the General Assembly is funding a small part of a plan calling for at least $5.6 billion in new education funding by 2028, news outlets reported.

Lee has scheduled a court hearing on Oct. 18, and said if the plan isn’t fully funded by then, he will consider options on how the court can resolve the matter.

Pat Ryan, a spokesman for Senate leader Phil Berger, also accused Lee of overstepping his authority, The News & Observer of Raleigh reported.

“I don’t know how much clearer we can be,” Ryan said in a statement Wednesday. “If Judge Lee wants to help decide how to spend state dollars — a role that has been the exclusive domain of the legislative branch since the state’s founding — then Judge Lee should run for a seat in the House or Senate.”

Lee’s warning marks the next stage in the Leandro school funding case first filed in 1994 by low-wealth school districts to get more state funding. The case is named after a Hoke County student who has since graduated from college. The N.C. Supreme Court assigned Lee to oversee the case after Judge Howard Manning retired.

Over the years, the state Supreme Court has ruled that the North Carolina Constitution guarantees every child “an opportunity to receive a sound basic education” and that the state wasn’t meeting that standard.

In June, Lee approved a seven-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 a 5% pay raise this year for teachers, more money for low-wealth school districts and expanding the NC Pre-K program.

Republicans in the House and Senate each passed their own versions of the budget and are trying to reconcile the differences.

The Leandro plan calls for $690.7 million in new education funding this year and $1.06 billion next year. The Senate budget included $191.6 million this year and $213.7 million next year. The House had $370 million this year and $382.1 million next year.

 

Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill.

 

Related Stories
‹
Judge: N Carolina Must Spend $1.75B to Narrow Education Gap
Written by GARY D. ROBERTSON A North Carolina trial judge on Wednesday ordered the state to pay out $1.75 billion to help narrow the state’s public education inequities, angering Republicans who said the directive usurps lawmakers’ constitutional authority over state coffers. Superior Court Judge David Lee, who is charged with overseeing corrective responses to school […]
NC Public Education 'Remedial Plan' Presented to Judge
A multibillion-dollar plan presented by North Carolina officials and designed to comply with legal rulings that declare the state has failed to meet constitutional obligations in public education is now in the hands of a judge. The State Board of Education and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration filed this week in Wake County court a […]
NC Judge: No Explanation for Replacement in ‘Leandro’ Case
Written by GARY D. ROBERTSON A retired judge who has managed longstanding litigation on K-12 education spending in North Carolina for years said he’s received no direct explanation why he’s not handling the next portion of the case. Superior Court Judge David Lee has been overseeing the lawsuit called “Leandro” since late 2016. But this […]
‘Leandro’ Fast-tracked to Justices; New Judge Directs Review
Written by GARY D. ROBERTSON North Carolina’s justices have agreed to accelerate the process that will likely lead to another landmark ruling over inequities in the public schools and the state’s role in removing them — such as whether courts can order that taxpayer money be spent. The state Supreme Court granted a request backed […]
Judge: No Waiting on NC Budget To Act on School Funding
Written by GARY D. ROBERTSON A North Carolina judge signaled Monday that he’s ready to formally demand legislators carry out a funding recipe to reduce public education inequities, saying he wouldn’t wait on a negotiated budget agreement between the governor and legislature before acting. Superior Court Judge David Lee told lawyers representing local school boards […]
Cooper: I’ll Seek Public School Spending Surge in NC Budget
Written by GARY D. ROBERTSON Soon entering the critical phase of North Carolina’s budget talks, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday he would aim to get Republican lawmakers to fund public education improvements a judge says the state must start implementing. Addressing a panel he created to help comply with legal rulings in a decades-old […]
North Carolina GOP Again Seeking To Limit Racial Teachings
Written by HANNAH SCHOENBAUM A previously vetoed proposal advancing in the North Carolina House would restrict how teachers can discuss certain racial topics in the classroom amid a national GOP crusade against ideas they associate with “ critical race theory.” The bill, which passed Tuesday in the House Education Committee, would ban public schools from compelling students […]
Health Experts, Orange County Officials Share Concern for LGBTQ Wellbeing in Wake of NC Bills
The passage of two bills by the North Carolina General Assembly has drawn condemnation from some elected bodies in Orange County and local pediatric health experts alike for their anti-LGBTQ+ elements. The bills’ sponsors say the elimination of gender-affirming medical care for those under 18, as well as the requirement of educators to alert parents […]
North Carolina Senate Again Seeking LGBTQ Limits in Schools
Written by HANNAH SCHOENBAUM A bill advancing in North Carolina’s Senate would prohibit instruction about sexuality and gender identity in K-4 public school classes, defying the recommendations of parents, educators and LGBTQ youths who testified against it. Sponsors of the bill, approved Wednesday by the Senate education committee, say they want to grant parents greater authority […]
School Funding Plaintiffs Ask NC Supreme Court To Weigh In
Written by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Plaintiffs in long-running North Carolina school funding litigation have asked the state’s highest court to decide whether a trial judge’s directive to send $1.75 billion from government coffers to state agencies to address inequities is lawful. Lawyers representing school districts and parents on behalf of their children filed two separate […]
›