NC Supreme Court again hears arguments on school funding case
Decades-long school funding case continues with judge hearing new oral arguments
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}North Carolina’s highest court is considering whether it was within a trial judge’s power to unilaterally order taxpayer money be sent to government agencies to address stubborn educational inequities.
NC HOUSE REP. HANIG APPOINTED TO SENATE AFTER RESIGNATION OF STATE SEN. BILL STEINBURG
The state Supreme Court scheduled oral arguments on Wednesday in another chapter of a decades-long legal struggle over public education spending and a constitutional requirement to ensure access to sound schooling for all.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A decades-long legal battle in North Carolina is still dragging on as the state's Supreme Court hears oral arguments on Wednesday on whether a judges decision to unilaterally order tax-payer funds to be sent to a government agency and be used to address education equality was legal.
A judge last year said it was proper that he move the money to carry out portions of a multibillion-dollar education remedial plan. Superior Court Judge David Lee cited in part the failure of legislators and governors to provide fully for children the "opportunity for a sound basic education." That language stems from previous Supreme Court rulings in the "Leandro" litigation -- named for a plaintiff in the original 1994 lawsuit.
Republican legislators say Lee got it wrong because only the General Assembly has constitutional authority to appropriate funds.