This report comes from the Center for Educational Equity at Teachers College, Columbia University. The Leandro case ordered equitable funding for the state’s public schools, but the funding has not been delivered due to the Tea Party Republican control of the legislature (General Assembly). Republicans have chosen to focus on charters and vouchers, not equitable funding.
Seeking to end the long-pending Leandro/Hoke litigation, Superior Court Judge David Lee last June approved a comprehensive, 8-year plan that aims to ensure all students in the state the opportunity for a sound basic education guaranteed by the state constitution. When the legislature failed to approve the initial funding to support the plan, in November, the Judge ordered the state of North Carolina to transfer $1.7 billion from its reserves to fund the first phase of the plan. At the end of November, the North Carolina Court of Appeals overruled Judge Lee’s order, holding that although the lower court was correct in saying that the state must fund the plan, it is not within its power to order money be appropriated.
Late last month, North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby, a registered Republican, suddenly replaced Judge Lee, a registered Democrat, as the presiding trial court judge for the case, without any advance notice. Justice Newby then ordered special Superior Court Judge Michael Robinson, a registered republican, to take over the case. Judge Robinson is required to determine how much of the $1.7 billion that is necessary to fund a comprehensive remedial school improvement plan was included in the current state budget. Judge Robinson must present his findings to the state Supreme Court by April 20.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
This is alarming. The judicial branch of any government is not supposed to behave this way. Can a state even do that? What constitutional guarantees exist such that the state court organization must conform to them?
There’s your right-wing “non-activist” judiciary for you! It’s like the Repugnican “small government” trope. They hate “activist” judges until these people start making laws they approve of, and they hate “big government” except when it benefits their fat cat donors.
these days it appears we are leaving the word “can” behind: not Can I do it but I will simply do it.
Presumably the rules of the state court say that the chief judge can reassign cases.
Public schools are unlikely to get fair treatment when right wing politicians can repeatedly rig the deck against them. They are unlikely to get the money they deserve when state legislatures refuse to issue the funds even when public schools win in the courts. This is true in both the North and South.
Privatization is not a supply and demand issue, It is a political grenade tossed at public schools by self serving politicians that attend the interests lobbyists and billionaires instead of the needs of young people of the state.
In the article, “State for Sale”, Jane Mayer wrote about Art Pope. The John Locke Society praises Robinson’s selection. The Society was founded by Art Pope.
When men like Koch and Pope succeed politically, they mock the sacrifices made for American democracy and its promise of justice that is blind.
BTW don’t shop at Roses. Pope’s group owns it.
Nicole Hannah Jones made the right decision when she rejected the position at the University of North Carolina. A Pope colony is not a place where democratic values can survive.
Can I hear an “amen” up in here?
What can one say that has not already been said. It is a sad case when one party becomes so enamored with power that the public be damned Trump policies leading to a complete takeover by corporate rather than public interests in government continues. PBS had a documentary on how dictators operate. “Woe is us.
Translation – less money for the schools
Even though charter schools are only about 6% of the schools, they get most of the attention because there is so much money behind them. Public schools receive little attention except when politicians bash or lie about them. There has also been a systematic, political disinvestment in them in many states.
Looks like Newby pulled a McConnel. If you don’t get what you want, be sneaky, cheat, lie, steal, threaten, et al.
This has become the standard in politics these days. These standards are not just limited the the Republicans. The Democrats are not better. That is why I a registered Independent. Don’t need a political party telling me how to think or vote.
The primaries are too important. One can’t miss voting in these. That’s why registering as an Independent is a huge mistake.
I fully understand the importance of the primaries. But, right now I do not want my family name associate or linked to any political party.
Which Democrats collectively did something similar to what GOP members did in all of the circumstances that led to Jan. 6 and the continuing efforts after Jan. 6 to overturn the election e.g. John Eastman?
Which Democrat(s) is in the same political league as Charles Koch (ALEC), Uihlein, Art Pope,… influencing state legislation in places where they pay no taxes? How do the politicking, individual, wealthy Democrats compare in number, geographic spread of funding and size of spending?
What is the median donation to Democratic candidates?
How to Become an Expert on Military Strategy and Preparedness
Too bad we don’t have a stable genius like Donald Trump in the oval office right now, given the war in Ukraine. He is soooooo well informed! Here, a blast from the past, Trump talking to NBC reporter Chuck Todd when the former was a candidate in 2015:
TODD: “Whom do you talk to for military advice right now?”
TRUMP: “Well, I watch the shows. I mean, I really see a lot of great, you know, when you watch your show and all of the other shows, and you have the generals.”
So, “see a lot of great, you know, . . . watch your show and all of the other shows,” and you will totally understand this whole military thing.
This is the man (I use the term loosely) who became Commander in Chief of the most powerful country in the world.
I guess I am being immoderate. Several comments in moderation now.
Testing:
Todd
Testing:
military
Testing:
NBC
Well, not sure what has WordPress in a miff.
In other news. The following is the abstract by Victor Shnirelman of his chapter on Alexandr Dugan, Putin’s fav philosopher, from the Handbook of Conspiracy Theory and Contemporary Religion. Dugan holds that it is Russia’s destiny to reestablish a Eurasian Russian Empire centered upon an autocratic Moscow and Russian Orthodox Religion. Dugan just gave an interview to reporters in Turkey in which he described the invasion of Ukraine as one Russia would not give up until it had won and as the beginning of the recreation of this Empire.
“Alexander Dugin is well known for his aspiration to combine politics and religion with a reference to eschatology. The article scrutinizes the basic ideas of his constructions and reveals eschatological roots of contemporary conspiracy theory. It is demonstrated that the images of the “world plot” and “eternal enemy” are directly related to the narrative of the Antichrist. This imagination immediately leads to esoteric and conspiratorial anti-Semitism and includes a view of history as an “eternal occult war” between Christianity and Judaism. The Dugin’s constructions are based on esoteric and geopolitical views of “sacred past,” which are far from academic methodology. He sticks to essentialist views of “race” and “ethnicity,” which build up a pseudo-scholarly basis for xenophobia in form of “new (cultural) racism.” Dugin is not embarrassed with inconsistencies and contradictions of his constructs because he applies to emotions rather than to reason.”
Here is the insane interview with Dugan, which includes a threat of nuclear war.
https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/dunya/846849.aspx
If you open this in the Edge browser, you can automatically translate the page into English.
Here’s a little more info on the switch: https://apnews.com/article/business-education-north-carolina-state-courts-33ba050382310ae22e51c6918e67c742
When Judge Lee stepped down from his elected bench term in 2016, the previous governor (Pat McCrory, Republican) named him as an emergency Superior Court judge [which seems to be common enough per state regs I looked at]. He was assigned to the Leandro case– which had already been ongoing for 22 yrs at that point. Just over 5 yrs later, in late January 2022, he reached mandatory retirement age [72] & received notice he’d be a “recall” judge working at the discretion of the Chief Justice [SOP]. He’s been commissioned for at least one pending case since, but not this one.
Nobody is venturing guesses on the reason for the personnel change, and Lee says he had no expectation of seeing it to its conclusion. But my guess is, it’s because last November, Lee ordered $1.7 billion out of state coffers into agency hands to implement constitutionally required remedial ed– and was overturned on appeal. [Judges can’t appropriate funds.] Full disclosure: my guess is based completely on watching legal TV series & reading legal procedural novels where getting overturned on appeal is not a great career-extender 😀 😀
NC has been majority Rep House & Senate since 2011, although many years Dem govr [except in 2013-16]. In mid-2020, Ballotpedia did a study of partisan affiliation of all Supreme Court Justices in the states. NC was deemed “Democratic.” Chief Justice Newby may have had to beat the bushes to find a fellow Rep to take over!