2025 will end without a ruling in NC’s long-running Leandro school funding case

Another year will pass without any resolution in sight for the decades-old Leandro school funding lawsuit.

The Leandro case was not among the final 19 decisions for the year issued Friday by the North Carolina Supreme Court. As of Friday, 659 days had passed since justices heard oral arguments from Republican lawmakers who challenged a 2022 decision that said the courts can order money be spent on public schools.

The Leandro case is one of the oldest cases — if not the oldest — where the court hasn’t issued a ruling since hearing oral arguments.

“Year after year, the Court has declined to act, choosing instead to ignore its responsibility in this critical matter,” Tamika Walker Kelly, president of the North Carolina Association of Educators, said in a statement Friday. “The Supreme Court’s ongoing inaction makes it clear that the court, like the North Carolina General Assembly, are not committed to ensuring that North Carolina’s 1.5 million public-school students receive their constitutional right to a sound, basic education.”

A spokesperson for the Supreme Court did not respond to an email Friday from The News & Observer requesting comment.

Jan. 30 is the next potential release date for court opinions. But there’s no guarantee a ruling will be issued then.

Leandro in court since 1994

The Leandro case was initially filed in 1994 by five low-wealth school districts to get more state funding.

Over the course of the case, the state Supreme Court has ruled that the state constitution guarantees every child “an opportunity to receive a sound basic education” and that the state was failing to meet that obligation.

In November 2021, Superior Court Judge David Lee ordered the state to transfer $1.75 billion to fund years two and three of an eight-year plan developed by a consultant. The amount has since been revised to $677.8 million for those two years.

The plan is meant to try to provide every student with high-quality teachers and principals. The full eight-year plan is estimated to cost at least $5.6 billion.

Just days before the 2022 midterm elections, the Supreme Court, which then had a Democratic majority, upheld Lee’s order along party lines. The Democratic justices said the courts had deferred long enough for the state to implement a plan to provide a sound basic education.

Republicans gained the court’s majority after the 2022 election and blocked enforcement of Lee’s order. The court also agreed to hear an appeal filed by Senate leader Phil Berger and then-House Speaker Tim Moore.

Democrats: Court gave ‘hall pass’ to defund schools

The court heard oral arguments on Feb. 22, 2024. The GOP lawmakers said only the General Assembly and not the courts have the authority under the state constitution to order the spending of state dollars.

On Friday, both NCAE and the North Carolina Democratic Party leveled criticism at the Republican majorities on the Supreme Court and in the General Assembly.

“Once again, North Carolina’s Supreme Court has failed to deliver what our children, parents, and families need,” Walker Kelly said. “Once again, they have chosen to stand by and let our students go without. And once again — just like the General Assembly — they have failed in their duty to uphold the constitutional promise of a sound, basic education.”

The North Carolina Democratic Party accused the Supreme Court’s Republican majority of giving their counterparts in the legislature “a hall pass to keep systematically defunding public schools.” Democrats pointed to a recently released report from the Education Law Center that ranked North Carolina at the bottom nationally in state funding for schools.

“To the children who have never known anything different: I promise that it does not have to be this way,” North Carolina Democratic Party chair Anderson Clayton said in a statement Friday. “You do not have to watch your teachers ration printer paper and stock your classroom shelves from their own pocketbooks. Our State Constitution promises that every child in North Carolina has access to a sound basic public education.”

A spokesperson for the North Carolina Republican Party did not respond to an email and voicemail Friday requesting comment.

This story was originally published December 12, 2025 at 4:06 PM.