The decades-long school funding lawsuit – referred to as Leandro – goes to the North Carolina Supreme Court tomorrow for oral arguments. Dr. Terry Stoops, Director of the Center for Effective Education at the John Locke Foundation, says the lawsuit has been hijacked by leftist organizations by urging the courts to “circumvent lawmakers and order state government agencies to extract billions of taxpayer dollars from state coffers“:
The state Supreme Court hearing is the culmination of years of advocacy efforts by more than three dozen special interest groups, progressive organizations, and union-supported enterprises that are members of North Carolina Communities for the Education of Every Child or Every Child NC. As part of its “state-level systemic change strategy,” the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation awarded a $60,000 grant to the left-wing North Carolina Justice Center in 2020 to establish the Every Child NC coalition.
At issue will be whether a court can dictate budget allocations to fund schools in the state, or whether that power rests solely with the legislature. Democrats hold a 4-3 majority on the state Supreme Court, and has already shown a willingness to conjure super-legislative powers to enact policy that the lawmaking branch did not.
