Education equity advocates in North Carolina were dealt a legal blow earlier this month. Now, they must work within the state Legislature to secure equality in education funding.

In the 1990s, five low-wealth school districts took a case to the North Carolina Supreme Court over funding disparities in public education. The court ruled that the state constitution grants every child the right to the opportunity of an education. The now-dubbed Leandro plan was developed to meet equal education funding requirements, but the state Supreme Court earlier this month ruled that it could not compel equal education funding by the state Legislature previously ordered by a lower court.

Matthew Ellinwood, Education and Law project director for the North Carolina Justice Center, said equal public education funding has faced challenges because of a focus on cutting taxes – and increasing dollars spent on vouchers for private schools.

"The real tension," he said, "is between the Legislature’s desire to have extremely low taxes and an inability to generate the adequate income to provide funding for the districts to ensure the constitutional standard is being met for providing educational opportunities."

North Carolina Republicans have been extremely vocal in their support for school vouchers, arguing that money for a child’s education should be spent where a parent feels they are best able to receive a quality education.

Ellinwood said equal-education advocates now have to plead their case to state lawmakers. He explained that these issues often correlate with racial disparities in education funding.

"Income is so closely aligned with race in the state," he said. "The ability of local tax bases to provide for education varies so much. A lot of that corresponds with race."

Of the five original counties who sued for equal-education funding, four served large populations of Indigenous and Black students.

Source: Public News Service