Southern Education Foundation Responds to North Carolina Supreme Court Decision on Leandro Case

April 15, 2026

The Southern Education Foundation (SEF) is deeply disappointed by the North Carolina Supreme Court’s recent decision related to the long-running Leandro school funding case. The landmark ruling, stemming from a case filed in 1994, found that the state was in violation of its own constitution, which guarantees “free public schools… wherein equal opportunities shall be provided for all students.” More than three decades later, that constitutional obligation remains unmet.

We at SEF have spent decades supporting and advancing efforts to expand education opportunity across the South, including work connected to school desegregation and access to quality public education. We have supported progress where it has occurred and spoken out when that progress is at risk. This decision represents a step backward for North Carolina’s students, and we are currently exploring potential legal pathways to support efforts to uphold the state’s constitutional commitments.

What is most concerning about this decision is not only the outcome but the absence of any determination that the underlying problem has been resolved. The ruling focuses on questions of jurisdiction, whether it is the role of the court to enforce the remedy, rather than whether students across the state are receiving the quality education guaranteed to them.

Courts have a responsibility not only to interpret the law, but to ensure that constitutional obligations are upheld. In this instance, that responsibility has not been fully realized.

This decision comes at a pivotal time. Education is undergoing rapid change, driven by emerging research, evolving instructional models, and advances in technology, including artificial intelligence. These developments present significant opportunities, but only if all students have access to the resources and systems needed to benefit from them.

Without that access, longstanding gaps in opportunity risk widening further. This ruling raises serious concerns about whether the students most in need of support will be positioned to succeed in this changing educational landscape.

The Southern Education Foundation calls on the North Carolina General Assembly and state leadership to take decisive action to fulfill the state’s constitutional obligation to provide a sound, basic education for every student.

The responsibility to ensure access to quality education does not end with the courts; it must be carried forward through policy, leadership, and sustained commitment.