NC education leaders, lawmakers meet days after Leandro thrown out

Education leaders and policymakers from across North Carolina discussed the biggest issues facing North Carolina schools on Tuesday, including the recent dismissal of a landmark lawsuit against the state over education.

The Public School Forum of North Carolina hosted its annual Eggs and Issues breakfast, with speakers and panelists including Democratic and Republican state lawmakers.

The event happened just days after the state Supreme Court threw out the 32-year-old education lawsuit known as Leandro, including a plan that would have increased school funding by billions of dollars and changed numerous education policies.

A resolution to the lawsuit, Hoke County Board of Education v. North Carolina, has been a priority for years -- and even decades -- for many education leaders.

The lawsuit from five lower-wealth school boards contended that North Carolina was not providing an adequate education to their students.

At the breakfast each year, the forum unveils its top education issues for the state. The group issued four last year, calling for an improved school funding system, higher teacher pay, more support services for children inside and outside of schools and a better system to hold state-funded schools accountable for their performance.

For its top issues this year, the Forum is sticking with its issues from last year and measuring their progress. With few exceptions, the Forum noted no progress had been made on their goals. Some of that, including a proposal for greater teacher pay, were the result of no state budget being passed for the current fiscal year. The Forum noted that progress had been made in the dormant proposals to raise teacher pay and in the forming of another state Department of Public Instruction task force looking at redesigning how the state grades schools.

Lawmakers talk teacher pay, what's next

During a panel, two Democratic and two Republican lawmakers emphasized the need to raise teacher pay but acknowledged there's no legislative consensus on how much to do so.

Rep. Brian Biggs, R-Randolph, said teacher pay is one of his and the House's top priorities and that they are uninterested in settling for a raise of only 1% to 2%, as is suggested in the Senate's budget.

"I want to make sure teachers can buy houses, raise families," said Biggs, who chairs the House's education and education appropriations committees. He's a former coach and Randolph County school board member.

No Republican senators were a part of Tuesday's panel, but Sen. Sydney Batch, D-Wake, said many Democratic senators favored the House budget for its higher spending on education, including on teacher raises.

The House and Senate are at odds over how much to cut state income taxes, with the Senate favoring a larger cut and thus lower state spending.

Biggs also noted a high amount of needs in the state that go beyond schools, including needs out west after Hurricane Helene in the fall of 2024.

"We've got a $34 billion budget," Biggs said. "You might say that's a lot of money, but western North Carolina has a $60 billion problem right now."

Rep. Heather Rhyne, R-Lincoln, said leaders need to roll up their sleeves and see what they can do for the state's schools, rather than listening to "the noise."

While Democrats largely favor the House budget compared to the Senate's, the parties are at odds over a newer debate: Whether state lawmakers should step in and limit counties' abilities to raise property taxes.

Some limits already exist, and some bills to protect seniors and others from certain tax increases have been filed but not passed.

Property taxes have historically been up to cities and counties to set. Some lawmakers say it should remain a local issue, while others want to limit the ability of city or county leaders to set those rates in the future. House Republicans plan to propose a new constitutional amendment this year to implement new limits.

Biggs, who is on the legislative group examining property taxes, said Tuesday the group has "just been looking at all angles."

Biggs noted that single-family home property taxes are largely going up because of the lack of such housing, that's driving up home values. But, he said, some counties with high property value increases may be keeping their tax rates too high for property owners' pocketbooks.

Batch said she understood why property values were going up, but took issue with Biggs criticizing the counties trying to raise money.

She said state lawmakers "need to stay out of local property tax business."

The property tax revenue is needed but not excessive, she said.

"The vast majority of our state cannot property tax their way into enough funding for public schools," she said, urging the legislature to better fund public schools if they want to limit counties' ability to do so.

The Leandro ruling on April 2 suggests the legislature is the better venue to make education policy decisions, she said.

Other education leaders and attendees of Tuesday's event suggested more action at the General Assembly.

North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction Mo Green, during his monthly Council of State meeting comments Tuesday, urged people to advocate for more resources for students to the General Assembly.

"While I certainly can be optimistic about the future of public education in North Carolina, this decision makes the task of meeting the constitutional mandate of providing every school child with a sound basic education ever more challenging," he said.

Others echoed the sentiment of teacher pay being a top priority for addressing school needs right now.

It's an immediate need, said current North Carolina Burroughs Wellcome Teacher of the Year Rachel Candaso. She noted the General Assembly hasn't passed a budget since 2023.

"It is very difficult to have one job and that be your sole job and focus on public education and being an educator... if we're working with the 2023 income, with 2026 expenses," Candaso said.

Reaction to Leandro decision

While the Leandro decision wasn't the theme of Tuesday's event, it was mentioned numerous times throughout by a variety of speakers.

Bill Harrison, the Forum chairman and the former superintendent of Hoke County Schools when Leandro was filed, was upset the lawsuit was dismissed before it could be resolved and lamented that the lawsuit had become political.

He noted Democrats were in charge of the General Assembly when the lawsuit was filed and for many years after that, including during the 2004 state Supreme Court decision that found his school district wasn't receiving a "sound basic education," as the court has said every North Carolina school-aged child is entitled to. Republicans are in charge now, and they also haven't fixed the situation, Harrison said.

"This lawsuit has never ever had anything to with politics," he said. "It has always had everything to do with doing right by all kids."

Educators and policy advocates understand that Leandro as a lawsuit is over, but say more needs to be done.

Ann McColl, a longtime education attorney and recent interim executive director of the Forum, urged attorneys across the state to come together and find a variety of lawsuits they can file challenging whether different aspects of the education system were meeting the standard of "a sound basic education."

Susana Benites, director of Every Child NC, said she wants to see what lawmakers' plans are to provide a sound basic education for every student.

"They need to do something, and I would love also to hear what they're gonna do, right? And how they are gonna invest it in public education," Benites, a former Durham Public Schools high school teacher. She recalled that during the five years she taught, she had to abandon lessons sometimes to work with students having attention or anger issues. Students need more help to be ready for school, and teachers would benefit from that, she said.

Candaso called the court's decision "shocking and devastating."

Other teachers are exasperated, too, she said.

"At this point in the year, we're also tired, right?" Candaso said. "There hasn't been a lot of movement at the state level, in terms of supporting public education. So the Leandro case last week was just another hit to that."

She noted that many school districts in North Carolina are cutting from their budgets, absent a state budget and as costs rise faster than enrollment.

Property tax income in more rural areas like hers -- Candaso lives in Martin County and works in Pitt County -- can't fund all of the things they need, especially with incomes not being as high as in more urban counties.