Associate Justice Anita Earls speaks at an event on July 26, 2025. (File Photo: Brandon Kingdollar/NC Newsline)
With North Carolina lawmakers still negotiating the state budget, a public forum on Thursday highlighted the state’s long-running Leandro case, a nearly three-decade legal battle over equitable education funding.
Speaking at the forum organized by the advocacy group Public Schools First NC, state Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls discussed the history of the case, which began in 1994 when parents and school districts in low-wealth counties sued the state. They argued their students were being denied the state constitution’s guarantee of a “sound basic education.”
The state Supreme Court affirmed that right in 1997 and found that North Carolina had failed to meet its obligation, particularly for at-risk students. Since then, the case has moved through years of court rulings, compliance hearings, and disputes over funding plans.
Earls, who was elected to the state’s highest court in 2018, told the audience she could only discuss the case’s public record, not ongoing proceedings. She read directly from her dissent in a 2022 decision, where she criticized the court’s majority for stepping back from ordering the state to fund a comprehensive remedial plan.
“Not only is it true that justice delayed is justice denied, but denying adequate educational opportunities entails enormous losses, both in dollars and in human potential to the state and its citizens,” Earls read from her dissent. “If our court cannot or will not enforce state constitutional rights, those rights do not exist. The constitution is not worth the paper it is written on, and our oath as judicial officers to uphold the Constitution is a meaningless charade.”
The General Assembly adjourned in late July with no comprehensive deal on the two-year spending plan, passing a resolution to meet only one day a month until the 2026 short session begins in April. Lawmakers have been deadlocked since early summer over tax cuts and spending priorities. That means months could pass before school districts have clarity on the state’s spending priorities for education.
Democratic leaders in the legislature and education groups have called on lawmakers to return to Raleigh to pass a full budget. They argue the state needs more than incremental fixes to address increasing enrollment, aging school facilities, and teacher workforce challenges.
The audience on Thursday also heard from education advocates who connected the case to current classroom struggles. Public Schools First NC have highlighted how Leandro funding could expand pre-K programs, hire more teachers and reduce class sizes.
The Leandro case remains pending before the state Supreme Court, which last heard arguments in February 2024.