9-4-2020

Parents, teachers, and students across the state entered this year hoping we would finally see legislative action towards delivering North Carolina students the type of education they are owed under our state constitution. The Leandro action plan for 2021 offered lawmakers clear steps to remedy the decades of educational neglect in our state. Unfortunately, lawmakers have ignored these solutions, even as the barriers to our students’ success continue to mount during the pandemic.

Since the Leandro right to education case was filed in 1994 and affirmed just this week by the consent agreement entered in the case by Judge W. David Lee, the courts have consistently found that the state has failed to provide children with the education they deserve. This is particularly true for Black, Brown, and Native students, as well as for students with disabilities, students from families with low incomes, and English learners. The communities supported by Every Child NC deeply understand the barriers to success faced by the children who have been most adversely impacted by our unconstitutional education system. And while the COVID-19 pandemic has raised those barriers, it in no way excuses yet another year of inaction from our elected officials.

This most recent legislative session made it clear that current legislative leadership has no interest in fulfilling their constitutional obligation. The General Assembly made no meaningful progress towards delivering our kids a sound basic education as required by the North Carolina Constitution and as laid out in the state’s action plan in Leandro. They made no effort to ensure that all of our kids have qualified, well-prepared teachers and principals who look like them. They made no effort to revamp discriminatory accountability and discipline systems. They made no effort to revamp our finance system or to redistribute or allocate new funds so that resources reach the communities and the students who need them the most and at a level that allows all children to succeed.

The General Assembly also fell far short of meeting the additional school costs created by the pandemic, failing to fund even half of the State Board of Education’s modest request for additional resources. In failing to meet these basic needs, the General Assembly has yet again moved us even further from meeting the simple goal of providing our children with a sound basic education.

North Carolina can readily afford to meet the additional challenges posed by Leandro and the pandemic. Tax cuts benefitting political donors continue to drain billions from state coffers each year. As a result, North Carolina’s school funding effort – the amount we spend relative to the size of our economy – ranks dead last in the country. We have the resources. We just need the political and moral will.

While the General Assembly controls the state’s purse strings, the Governor shares some blame here. His spending proposal addressed many of our schools’ safety needs, but failed to offer a sustainable path towards providing our children with a sound basic education. His plan included only one-time money that won’t cut it when it comes to meeting the debt owed to our students.

The lack of moral and political courage from North Carolina’s state leaders has once again left parents, teachers, and students in the lurch. With the end of this year’s legislative session, the Every Child NC network of organizations will continue to deepen our advocacy efforts in communities and school districts across the state. We demand that our elected officials take seriously their constitutional duty to provide all children with a sound, basic education beginning in early childhood that provides a safe and accessible learning environment for all.