Dismissed but not Defeated, What's Next After Leandro

The Weekly Memo
April 10, 2026
Matt Schlosser
Education, Politics As Usual

Last week, the North Carolina Supreme Court threw out Leandro– the landmark educational funding case that established every child’s right to a “sound, basic education.”

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We’re already ranked dead last in the country for our effort to fund public schools. With the dismissal of Leandro, there’s nothing requiring legislators to increase public school funding, to invest in students, special education, rural school districts, hard-working teachers, and North Carolina families.

The ruling wasn’t unanimous– three Justices stood up to the Court’s majority in defense of our public schools. One of those Justices was Anita Earls, who described the majority’s ruling as a betrayal of North Carolinians.

“This case is—and has always been—about the nature of the constitutional right recognized three decades ago in Leandro v. State: that the State has a duty to guard and maintain the right of every North Carolina schoolchild to access a sound basic education…The Court today betrays these constitutional commitments.”

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https://progressncaction.org/2026/04/dismissed-but-not-defeated-whats-next-after-leandro/