Almost 30 years ago, Cumberland County Schools joined with four other low wealth school systems in a lawsuit arguing that every child in North Carolina is Constitutionally entitled to a sound basic education. The suit asserts our state’s Constitution means all children, not just those living in counties blessed with a solid tax base able to fund public education adequately.

Equal opportunity was the argument in 1994 when the lawsuit was filed, and it remains the case today.

In the intervening decades, the original presiding judge has retired, lawyers have come and gone, North Carolina has had six different governors, and the Hoke County student for whom the suit was named has completed high school, both college and law school, and now practices with a Raleigh law firm.It would take more trees than we want to chop down to go through all the permutations — judicial rulings, appeals, reports, commissions and political hot air, that have occurred and all the energy expended since 1994, but here we are heading into 2022, and very little has actually changed.

Children in wealthier counties — think Wake, Mecklenburg, New Hanover and others — have considerably more and higher quality educational opportunities than children in poorer, largely rural counties. You cannot squeeze blood out of a turnip, and you cannot squeeze tax dollars for education out of businesses and individuals who simply do not have it.

I have heard it argued that children in poorer counties are even worse off educationally now than they were in 1994, because economic inequity is growing in our nation, not shrinking, and because the General Assembly has since allowed students to opt out of public schools into private institutions, with tuition paid by tax dollars, yours and mine.

On the long legal trajectory of Leandro, where are we now?

Last year, the judge now shepherding Leandro through the courts found that despite North Carolina’s clear Constitutional responsibility and various state programs, many students are still not receiving a sound basic education. Earlier this year, the same judge issued an order that the state not may but must, implement the comprehensive education plan agreed to by all parties in 2020. He gave Oct. 18 as the date by which the state is legally obligated to pony up sufficient funding to address educational inequality.

So, what is the hold up? What is the problem? Why is nothing happening?

North Carolina has not had an approved budget since 2018. The old budget just keeps rolling over at the same level of spending. Democratic Governor Roy Cooper supports increased funding, but the Republican controlled General Assembly is loath to provide it despite a budget surplus bumping up on $30B — yes, billion.

There are signs that the Governor and legislative leaders are at least speaking, but as of this writing, no agreement has been reached, so there is yet to be a budget.
The stage is now set for a legal showdown.Whatever your place on the political spectrum, a generation is a long time to wait for a shot at educational equality. Millions of young students have received less than stellar educations, and they and their communities continue to suffer for it. It is time — past time — for the General Assembly to do its Constitutional duty to provide educational funding for all our children, not just some.

Mr. Leandro has been waiting so long he grew up.