Editorial: Real education advocates push for quality schools for all, not just legislative leaders' agenda

Monday, Aug. 23, 2021-- BEST NC still has time live up to its mission and press legislators to include adoption and full funding of the Judge David Lee's Leandro order in the budget. Leadership demands it or BEST NC will be relegated to toothless oblivion. The General Assembly should not neglect addressing Leandro in the budget it sends to the governor. If it does, the court order won't go away. It will be the governor's duty to implement compliance with a just order.

Posted 9:00 a.m. Aug 23, 2021 — Updated 3:23 p.m. Aug 23, 2021

CBC Editorial: Monday, Aug. 23, 2021; Editorial #8696

The following is the opinion of Capitol Broadcasting Company.

The organization claims it is a “coalition of business leaders committed to improving North Carolina’s education system through policy and advocacy.”

What “Business for Educational Success and Transformation: North Carolina (BEST NC)” really is, unfortunately, is another echo chamber for the General Assembly leadership’s inadequate, misguided and antagonistic policies and funding of public education.

The state Senate and House have passed versions of the budget and BEST NC doesn’t comment, or even mention, the biggest public education issue facing the state that hardly gets a nod in either version.

Does BEST NC buy into the legislative leaders’ not-so-subtle efforts to ignore the enormity of the Leandro court decision? Can they brush aside the most recent order to implement much-needed changes?

In its latest “CATALYST” newsletter, BEST NC analyzes and appraises education spending and initiatives in the recent House and Senate versions of the state budget. It comes as legislative leaders duck behind closed doors to work out differences before sending a bill onto Gov. Roy Cooper.

“This edition of the Catalyst provides an overview of the key education components within the House’s budget bill.” The “Catalyst” offers some detail about what’s in the House and Senate versions of the budget for education.

Most astonishing about the analysis is its failure to address – EVEN MENTION -- the ongoing failure to meet the constitutional mandate and assure every child has the opportunity to a quality education. More important than what legislators put into their versions of the budget is what they left out and why.

This is not a special interest’s suggestion or a priority from some advocacy group. This is a court order that tells the state’s leaders they must stop breaking the law and provides specific guidance and programs as a remedy. How do you ignore that? How can any education advocacy organization do that and still claim leadership?

No organization that claims to advocate for quality public education can shirk from aggressively supporting, not to mention offering even tacit backing, to adoption funding that supports the court-ordered program to bring a sound basic education for all – as worked out worked out by plaintiffs and defendants in the 25-year-old landmark Leandro court decision.

Legislators have signaled in several ways their antipathy toward the program that was and with approved by Superior Court Judge David Lee. In June, Judge Lee,who happens to be a Republican, issued an order for implementation of a long-term plan that lays out how the state will assure every child has the access to a quality education.

On Aug. 6, the defendants were required to submit a report on their progress toward implementation of their program. The legislature’s failure to even devote a single hearing on the judge’s order and the program offers more than ample evidence of a lack of progress or even the legislature’s interest in complying with the order let alone live up to their sworn duty to uphold the State Constitution.

The unfortunate reality is that BEST NC has just become a part of the legislative echo chamber of self-reinforcement rather than an independent advocate for public education excellence for every North Carolina child.

BEST NC still has time live up to its mission and press legislators to include adoption and full funding of the Judge Lee’s Leandro order in the budget. Leadership demands it or BEST NC will be relegated to toothless oblivion.

The General Assembly should not neglect addressing Leandro in the budget it sends to the governor. If it does, the court order won’t go away. It will be the governor’s duty to implement compliance with a just order.

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