Article IX of the North Carolina State Constitution says a lot about education in this state. It talks about providing “free public schools,” with instructions on how to pay for them, and provides that “The University of North Carolina and other public institutions of higher education, as far as practicable, be extended to the people of the State free of expense.”
To which our Legislators have replied, “So what?,” and “You’ve got to be kidding!,“ and “What the hell does IX mean?”
In 1994, five school districts filed suit against the State, claiming that their districts did not have enough money to provide an equal and adequate education for their children. The State Supreme Court has FOUR TIMES affirmed the decision in Leandro v. State of NC that our students have a constitutional right to a sound basic education (and the money to pay for it), most recently in 2022. Luckily, there’s no danger of the current Court following that regrettable precedent. Leandro languishes.
So here we are, 29 years after Leandro was first filed, and has the State legislature has met Leandro’s goals? Well, no, of course not. It’s nobody’s business to tell the Legislature what to do, is it? Every session around budget time the members of that august body all gather around and dream up new ways to ignore Leandro. It’s kind of a game, really, and if you mention Leandro you lose.
Let’s look at the Legislature’s progress in fulfilling the basic education requirements of North Carolina children. No more trans kids in the bathroom of their choice? Check. Parents get to decide what topics and subjects their children are taught? Check. No protections from abusive parents for kids who want to change their name to fit their gender-identity? Check (We rat them out instead). Moms of Liberty banning books in schools? You bet.[1]
Wait, you say. What does all this have to do with financing a sound basic education? Well, you’re not seeing the big picture. Most of these advances in education policy flow from what modern Christians believe is dicta from the bible, and a Christian education is what the legislature squarely supports. You see, the real payoff is in privatizing schools, and you can’t go wrong being a pro-Christian politician in the South (south of the Canadian border, for that matter). Fortunately, if not surprisingly, the Federal Government is pretty much on board.
It all has to do with so-called “school choice,” which is the not-at-all-propaganda moniker for school voucher programs. The Supreme Court by a near-unanimous 5-to-4 margin has repeatedly voted to support school voucher programs regardless of any First Amendment/Constitutional stumbling blocks, on the theory that school vouchers are an ideal way to cheap out on provided quality public education. In low-performing districts, students whose parents chose to send them to alternative schools can get a voucher from the state to help defray expenses. Charter schools are free of charge, and exempt from most of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to public schools. Double-Dutch “free.”
Charter schools are one thing, but tax dollars for Christian academies are a whole other windfall - give a prayer of thanks to SCOTUS. Chief among those, in North Carolina, is Grace Christian School, located on (this is true) Jefferson Davis highway in Sanford. Grace Christian took in a whopping $2.5 Million in 2022, NC’s top voucher recipient. It’s their educational objectives that make them so attractive:
What kid wouldn’t want to go to a school where actual education (i.e., acquisition of objective knowledge) isn’t even on the objectives list? No need to worry about that thinking “clearly, logically, and independently.” They just put that in to placate the accreditation board. (Ha! Fooled you. Christian and charter schools don’t require accreditation in North Carolina.)
Where do we stand today? Well, despite all the accomplishments outlined here, some nay-sayers insist on focusing on how the poor are being served and just want to throw money at the problem. We all know that money doesn’t solve anything, except when you don’t have any. The Woke crowd point out that in terms of GDP, we are 50th in the nation on school spending, and 5th lowest in the Southeast in per pupil spending. Teacher pay is 34th nationally (for 2021-22).
In the meantime, the 2021-2023 budget substantially expanded eligibility for school vouchers, and the Legislature is aiming for a zero state tax on Corporations. One view might be that they are pushing the school tax burden down on workers, while eliminating conditions that might lead to an educated workforce and well-informed electorate. Or, as the MAGA crowd crow, it’s all going according to plan.
Coming up next time – Act II: Three Monkeys Visit UNC-Chapel Hill.
[1] As one supporter of the “Moms” noted, “Sure, we understand that our co-founding mother Bridget Ziegler is a philandering bisexual whose husband is accused of raping her lover, but that just shows that we’re open-minded adults. We certainly wouldn’t want our kids to know what we get up to!” Another fan of the group and single mother of five noted, “children need to learn about sex by trial and error. After all, it was good enough for me.”
Well, I know I don't live in Spring Hope anymore, but it sure seems that Tuition--$7020 does not quite meet the wording, "...as far as practicable, be extended to the people of the State free of expense." Unless, of course, the legislature's definition of "expense" means "Any number above $10,000 per."
I coached and taught at a charter school (Union Academy) and public school (Marvin Ridge). Both were greater challenges in the classroom than on the field. I loved the kids in both settings. They’re just amazing. But the administration mindset was as different as they were equally challenging. Charter school was easy: the principal was garbage. Public school administration was way more complex - as were the demands placed on the administrators.
Conversely, charter school teachers were predominantly cool, while public school teachers were petty and often surprisingly bigoted.
You could tell what was important by how budgets were spent.
I homeschooled the boys. 😆