N. Carolina judge convenes hearing on maintaining
adequacy during fiscal downturn
On October 22, Judge Howard Manning convened a “non-adversarial”
hearing to assess the impact of North Carolina’s
fiscal crisis on the implementation of the remedy in
Hoke
County Board of Education v. North Carolina.
In his notice of hearing, the judge noted the seriousness
of the state of the economy and its impact on revenue
streams for the state’s executive and legislative
branches. Nevertheless, he emphasized that “The
financial crisis notwithstanding, the basic educational
assets guaranteed to the children in North Carolina
public schools must remain in place.”
At the hearing, the Court received substantial documentary
evidence and testimony from a wide variety of state
and plaintiff witnesses on the extent of program and
staffing reductions in the budget adopted in August
2009. Plaintiffs claimed that the current budget reduced
resources and eliminated programs important to compliance
with the court’s requirements that every child
be provided a competent teacher, a competent principal
and adequate resources. They alleged that North Carolina’s
FY 2009-2010 budget, among other things, eliminated
staff development funding and a loan program for aspiring
teachers, cut the More at Four preschool program budget
by 5.8%, and reduced textbook funding by $48 million.
Plaintiffs also estimate that the state lost 2,466 teaching
positions and 108 instructional support personnel (counselors,
social workers, etc.). The Court has taken the issue
under advisement and is expected to issue a ruling in
the near future.
Although Judge Manning appears to be the first judge
who has pro-actively initiated procedures for considering
the impact of the economic downturn on students’
constitutional rights to a sound basic education, attorneys
and advocates in a growing number of states, including
California, Indiana, Kansas and New York, are considering
new legal initiatives to counter the growing impact
on students rights of the escalating cuts in state and
local education budgets.
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