Gov. Stein identified pay raises and Medicaid funding as the most urgent issues. However, state lawmakers have yet to act.
“Our kids deserve better. A surprise cut of nearly $50 million from rural schools, with virtually no notice and no allegation of misuse, is unlawful and harmful, the Department of Education approved these programs, allowed schools to build them, and now it’s trying to pull the rug out from under dozens of rural communities,” said AG Jeff Jackson.
Former teacher of the year Kimberly Jones, once a rural area public school student, says state lawmakers should offer the same opportunities to rural students that are offered to those from wealthier areas.
In the 2023-2024 school year, there was a whopping difference of $3,360 per child in spending when looking at the 10 highest-spending counties compared to the 10 lowest-spending counties, according to The Public School Forum of North Carolina’s 2026 Local School Finance Study.
The Western Carolina University students braved a 35-minute, 1.5-mile walk along a busy four-lane rural highway with no sidewalks to bring attention to the distance between students and the polls created by the Republican-controlled state board of elections.
“In the last two years alone in North Carolina, we have lost 19,262 teachers to other jobs; we have 7,000 teaching vacancies in the profession right now,” said Bryan Proffitt with NCAE, during the press conference.
As the delay continues, schools are left deciding which services, programs, and staff members they can afford to keep. Across the state, teachers and other state employees are also dealing with rising bills and ever-increasing health insurance plans, with some seeing their monthly premiums nearly triple. With no budget to deliver much-needed raises, this amounts to a pay cut for many.
The stakes are high as a ruling for Leandro could mean that public schools get about $1.7 billion in funding for multiple initiatives, including per-pupil spending and infrastructure. A state budget has not been passed by the Republican-led NC General Assembly, adding insult to injury.
“North Carolina’s failing grades reflect years of deliberate neglect. Lawmakers have refused to fully fund our public schools, denied educators meaningful raises, and the Supreme Court has allowed Leandro to languish. Our children cannot afford this continued failure of leadership,” said Tamika Walker Kelly, President of the NC Association of Educators.
Jackson’s office warned that losing the funding would force schools to shut down programs and could lead to layoffs in the middle of the school year. “Our kids deserve better,” Jackson said in a statement. “A surprise cut of nearly $50 million from rural schools, with virtually no notice and no allegation of misuse, is unlawful and harmful.”