In North Carolina, the Leandro court decision has long been unfulfilled, its directive to correct funding inequities resisted. Now Justin Parmenter reports that the state has finally found a way to escape that promise.
The North Carolina Supreme Court’s decision today to toss out the 30 year-old Leandro suit is a generational betrayal. By dismissing this landmark case with prejudice, the court has shuttered the courthouse doors on hundreds of thousands of students whose constitutional right to a sound basic education remains unfulfilled. This ruling prioritizes procedural technicalities over the lives of our children, ignoring the state’s fundamental moral and legal obligation to provide every child the resources they need to succeed–regardless of their zip code.
This betrayal is even more staggering when contrasted with the state’s fiscal priorities over the last decade. Since the current legislative leadership took power in 2010, aggressive tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest North Carolinians have siphoned away nearly $18 billion in potential annual revenue. While corporate tax rates have plummeted toward a planned 0%, our students have paid the price through starved classrooms and crumbling facilities.
North Carolina currently ranks dead last in the nation in education funding effort, with inflation-adjusted spending having declined by 13% since 2003. We are not a poor state. We are a state that has been intentionally impoverished by leaders who would rather put money in their wealthy donors’ pockets than improve the lives of our children.