Leandro case judge schedules another hearing after ruling extension granted

Judge Michael Robinson wants the state, school boards and lawmakers to explain why affidavits from two different state officials disagree on how much of a court-approved education plan differ.

Robinson is considering amending a $1.75 billion order by former Leandro lawsuit Judge W. David Lee that required the transfer of untapped state funds to three different education agencies this year and next year.

Lawmakers, as defendant-intervenors, have asked Robinson to scrap the order entirely, while the plaintiffs (five low-wealth school boards) and the state (including the executive branch) have argued Robinson should only update the order to reflect how the new state budget impacts the amounts listed in the order.

Robinson’s notice of hearing indicates he is still interested in resolving the matter of how much the budget impacts the so-called Leandro plan to improve the state’s public schools. Which numbers Robinson may choose to go with would determine how much certain elements of the plan can be considered completed and, thus, how much of those elements no longer needs to be addressed.

At stake is two years of funding and policies for the 1.5 million North Carolina public schoolchildren and the nearly 200,000 full-time public school employees.

Robinson will hold a hearing Friday at 2 p.m. via teleconference.

He’s able to hold the hearing after the North Carolina Supreme Court granted his request for a seven-day extension to when he must decide how or whether to amend Lee’s order. It’s now due by the end of the day April 27.

Since the April 13 hearing, parties have submitted filings in continued disagreement with one another over how much of the plan is funded.

For example, the state and plaintiff-intervenors have given the state budget credit for an additional $25.5 million for childcare subsidies. The plan called for $10 million recurring each year, but lawmakers have argued they funded $206 million in one-time funds from a federal stimulus-funded block grant. Plaintiffs have argued the $206 million is necessarily targeted the way it is called for in the plan.

EARLIER:

Judge Michael Robinson is asking the North Carolina Supreme Court for a one-week extension to amend pervious Judge W. David Lee’s $1.75 billion order to transfer state funds toward new education spending.

If granted, Robinson would not have to submit an amended order until April 27.

Robinson said he’s sorting through arguments that disagree over how much of the order has been funded and which state agencies would be responsible for the rest.

“In order to carefully consider the submissions and arguments of counsel of the parties and issue an appropriate order detailing its findings and conclusions, the undersigned is in need of, and therefore requests, an extension of Sven days,” Robinson wrote.

Parties filed briefs earlier this month and argued at a hearing last week. While they disagree over some aspects of what the budget funded and did not in the $1.75 billion order, they primarily disagree over whether Lee was within his rights as a judge to issue the order at all. Lawmakers, as defendant-intervenors, contend Robinson should strike the order entirely, while the plaintiffs and the defendants (the state and State Board of Education) have argued the order should be amended only to reflect what the budget funded.

The state Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal in the case but first asked Robinson to review Lee’s order from Nov. 10 to determine whether it needs to be amended in light of the state budget passed later in November.

State Controller Linda Combs successfully receive a writ of prohibition against following Lee’s order from a three-member Court of Appeals panel, citing concerns that it would compel her to violate state budget laws and be liable for misappropriating funds. Plaintiffs in the Leandro case have appealed the panel’s decision, and the Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of Lee’s order at a later date.

At stake is two years of funding and policies for the 1.5 million North Carolina public schoolchildren and the nearly 200,000 full-time public school employees.

Courts have ruled in favor of the low-wealth school boards and families who sued the state in 1994, saying the state wasn’t providing an adequate, Constitutionally promised education. Courts have since found a solution has yet to be implemented.

Former Leandro Judge W. David Lee approved a plan in 2021, submitted by the state and the plaintiffs, that seeks to resolve the deficiencies in education. It calls for more than $5.6 billion in new education spending by 2028, amounting to a more than 50% increase in state spending on schools.

It funds employee salary increases, expansions on educator recruitment and mentoring programs, vast increases in teaching assistants and support professionals and higher spending directed toward different student groups who often show lower test scores.

The plan has mostly not been funded. State officials estimated last week that nearly $1 billion of it was funded in the new state budget passed in November, mostly for salary increases.

About $71.2 million of $958.4 million is non-recurring funds, though the plan calls for them to continue into future years.

Parties agree the budget covered most of what the plan calls for this year and next year but disagree on the amount for some line items. They do not disagree over what has not been funded it all, which is about half of the plan’s line items.

Here’s a simplified breakdown on what was funded and what wasn’t in the plan, according to the State Office of Budget Management:

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