North Carolina鈥檚 Supreme Court Friday ruled as constitutional a 2016 law that gave more power to the state鈥檚 elected superintendent to oversee the state鈥檚 public schools.
But both the state chief and the state board issued press releases Friday afternoon claiming victory.
In 2016, shortly after Demcrat Roy Cooper beat incumbent Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, the GOP-dominated legislature rushed through legislation that placed the state chief over several areas of the state鈥檚 education system, including the state鈥檚 charter sector, its ESSA plan, and distributing the state鈥檚 finances.
The governor-appointed board sued, arguing the power transfer was unconstitutional and an attempt to strip the board of its powers. The board and Mark Johnson, the newly elected Republican superintendent, have been pitted against each other in a legal battle ever since.
Friday鈥檚 ruling upheld a lower-court ruling that said it鈥檚 not the court鈥檚 responsibility to figure out who should oversee what and that the 2016 law was constitutional.
The board鈥檚 attorneys Robert Orr and Drew Erteschik said in a statement, 鈥淲e are pleased with the Supreme Court鈥檚 decision, which reaffirms that the State Board of Education鈥攁nd not the Superintendent of Public Instruction鈥攈as the ultimate authority under the Constitution to supervise and administer the state鈥檚 public school system. We are also pleased that, while the Court stopped short of invalidating this particular legislation on its face, the Court unanimously declared that the Board has the final say on the mechanics of the relationship between the Board and the Superintendent, as well as how their respective departments will operate internally. Beyond those initial observations, we are continuing to study the Court鈥檚 decision.鈥�
Johnson, the state superintendent said in a statement that the ruling 鈥渧alidates the common-sense proposition that the duly-elected Superintendent of Public Instruction should lead the Department of Public Instruction. I am looking forward to putting this lawsuit behind us and working with board members to strengthen public education in North Carolina.
鈥淲hile it is unfortunate that it took more than a year and hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to resolve this matter, the positive news is that we will be able to utilize the data-driven analysis to reorganize DPI to help the agency focus on its core mission of supporting educators, students, and parents across North Carolina.鈥�
North Carolina is one of many states in which state board powers are being reconsidered after legislators have aggressively attempted to redesign their accountability systems after the passing of the Every Student Succeeds Act and come up with new funding formulas.