Superior Court Judge Michael Robinson has asked for an additional week to decide whether or not to order the state to transfer nearly $800 million into public education to meet the constitutional requirement to provide a sound and basic education. Robinson, a Republican judge, was appointed by Republican Chief Justice Paul Newby to replace a Democratic judge on the landmark case.
According to the News & Observer, Robinson claims he needs additional time because parties on the case “can’t agree on the facts.” Robinson has asked the NC Supreme Court for a seven-day extension until April 27th, 2022.
During last week’s court hearing, attorneys for legislative Republicans argued that only lawmakers can appropriate state funds and asked Robinson to throw out the previous judge’s order for the state to appropriate $1.75 billion for education. Plaintiffs asked Robinson to amend the order to provide $795 million to begin funding the Leandro plan.
In his request for delay, Robinson wrote “The parties are not in complete agreement on the amount of funding provided in the Budget Act for the programs contained in the Comprehensive Remedial Plan and there is also disagreement regarding how the Court should interpret certain appropriations made in the Budget Act as well as the proper treatment for federal grants available to the state,”
