Tomorrow, Wake County Superior Court Judge Howard Manning will hold a hearing to discuss pre-kindergarten programs, the state budget, and 2010-11 test scores. (FYI: The hearing will begin at 10:00 am in courtroom 10-C, Wake County Courthouse). As you may recall, Judge Manning is responsible for monitoring the state’s compliance with the NC Supreme Court’s school adequacy decisions collectively known as "Leandro."
For background on Leandro, read this, that, and the other thing.
Some North Carolinians believe that Manning’s oversight, which often includes implicit and explicit policy directives, is an affront to the democratic process. Others believe that Manning has a legitimate responsibility to aggressively enforce positive rights, e.g., a constitutionally mandated requirement that all public school students receive a "sound basic education." In the CommenTerry below, I explore a problem with the latter view — the myth of expediency.
Bulletin Board
- Join Judge John M. Tyson in beautiful Edenton, North Carolina for a discussion of the presidency of James Polk. The North Carolina History Project is sponsoring Judge Tyson’s lecture, " ‘I Am the Hardest Working Man in the Country’: President James K. Polk and Presidential Goals." The lecture will begin at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, June 21 at the 1767 Chowan County Courthouse National Historic Landmark, 117 East King Street, in Edenton. The event is free and open to the public. Preregistration is encouraged. Preregister by calling 1-866-JLF INFO or sending an email to [email protected].
- Learn what politicians, left-wing economic professors and the liberal media don’t want you to know about economics, all without the confusion and clutter of complicated mathematical equations. Attend the Civitas Institute’s Free Market Academy on Saturday June 25 from 9 am to 3 pm at the Resident Inn, 1468 Skibo Road, in Fayetteville, NC. (Please note: There will be an hour break for lunch.) Cost is $5.00. Register online at http://www.nccivitas.org/events or call 919-834-2099.
- The North Carolina History Project would like educators and homeschool parents to submit lesson plans suitable for middle and high school courses in North Carolina history. Please provide links to NC History Project encyclopedia articles and other primary and secondary source material, if possible. Go to the NC History Project website for further information.
- You will find wisdom, knowledge, and purpose at our research newsletter archive.
CommenTerry
In 2001, Wake Superior Court Judge Howard Manning assumed (or, perhaps, reclaimed) the role of Grand Inquisitor of the Leandro school adequacy decision. In his order, Manning wrote that the constitutionality of North Carolina’s public schools "is for the court to ultimately decide and under the present circumstances, is a job this court now believes it should undertake on its own without having to wait for a year, dependent on others to do the work."
Indeed, one of Judge Manning’s primary justifications for maintaining judicial oversight of Leandro was that it would expedite, in part, the implementation of the kinds of education reforms necessary to enforce the state constitution’s guarantee of an adequate or "sound basic education." (See Facts and Stats below for their definition of the phrase). Simply put, Manning reasoned that it was much faster and easier for him to "do something" than for a majority of the 120 elected members of the legislature or a special task force to agree on a course of action in a timely way.
Clearly, the argument for expediency appealed to the attorneys that represented the Leandro plaintiffs. In a 2001 News & Observer article, Bob Spearman observed, "I think the court is just trying to get this thing moved along at a faster pace, so it doesn’t have to be done in a way that the state would spend a year doing some complicated study."1 His colleague, Gary Grovert, agreed, "He’s [Manning] trying to get control of the case and to move it forward. He decided that he felt that we were just wasting time, and he wanted to take control
back."2 At that time, there was reason to believe that Manning’s "control of the case" would guarantee a relatively quick, decisive resolution. Anyway, who had time to wait for researchers to study an issue that, in the minds of many public school advocates, was easy to solve?
The arrangement sounded good in theory. In practice, it was unchartered territory and left many fundamental questions unresolved. Unsurprisingly, a separation of powers question arose almost immediately. Do judicial mandates empower the executive branch to carry out Leandro mandates, notwithstanding the legislature?
In 2002, Governor Mike Easley began a push for his More at Four pre-kindergarten program and class size reduction in the early grades. Easley told Democratic leaders of the NC General Assembly that the Leandro ruling authorized him to appropriate $54 million for the initiatives, despite the fact that the state constitution does not grant the governor the power to do so. He declared that there was no time to wait for legislative approval of the programs. Easley remarked, "The clock is ticking, and our children deserve action. The schools are on a different timetable than the General Assembly, and we have to take action now or miss the opportunity."3
The mainstream media praised Easley and dismissed legitimate concerns that Easley overstepped constitutional limitations on executive power. An editorial in the News & Observer concluded,
"Governor Easley took a step he had to take on behalf of the children, all the children, in North Carolina’s public schools. Legislators may feel they have the luxury of time in their budget battle, but for students, particularly those who are at risk of failing, there can be no endless ‘meantime.’ They need help now."4
Legislators avoided a constitutional crisis by capitulating to Governor Easley’s demands, but Manning marched on — impatiently — throughout the remainder of the decade.
A decade after Spearman and Grovert applauded the courts for moving Leandro forward, the expediency argument is laughable, at best. Rather than accelerating the process of guaranteeing a "sound basic education" for North Carolina’s public school students, Manning has become a formidable (and interminable) impediment in the already difficult process of developing sound education policy. It is time to move on.
—
Notes:
1. Todd Silberman, "Judge takes role in suit over schools," The News & Observer, May 30, 2001.
2. Ibid.
3. Amy Gardner and Todd Silberman, "Easley orders action on school programs," News & Observer July 25, 2002.
4. Editorial, "Getting a jump," News & Observer, July 26, 2002; See also Editorial, "Poor Schools," Winston-Salem Journal, April 1, 2004.
Random Thought
If you are looking for a good laugh, I encourage you to check out Cracked. You may even learn something!
Facts and Stats
For purposes of our Constitution, a ‘sound basic education’ is one that will provide the student with at least:
(1) sufficient ability to read, write and speak the English language and a sufficient knowledge of fundamental mathematics and physical science to enable the student to function in a complex and rapidly changing society;
(2) sufficient fundamental knowledge of geography, history and basic economic and political systems to enable the student to make informed choices with regard to issues that affect the student personally or affect the student’s community, state and nation;
(3) sufficient academic and vocational skills to enable the student to successfully engage in post-secondary education and training; and
(4) sufficient academic and vocational skills to enable the student to compete on an equal basis with others in further formal education or gainful employment in contemporary society.
— Hoke County Board of Education v. State of North Carolina, Memorandum of Decision, Section Three: Hoke County and Beyond, p. 80-1).
Mailbag
I would like to invite all readers to submit announcements, as well as their personal insights, anecdotes, concerns, and observations about the state of education in North Carolina. I will publish selected submissions in future editions of the newsletter. Anonymity will be honored. For additional information or to send a submission, email Terry at [email protected].
Education Acronym of the Week
DSSF — Disadvantaged Student Supplemental Fund
Quote of the Week
"Pardon my ignorance, but I always thought we elected the General Assembly to balance the state’s priorities and decide how much we should spend for education, for the mentally ill, for roads and for the state’s countless other needs. Instead of the decisions being made in the Legislative Building, they are being made five blocks south in the Wake County Courthouse…We are headed down a slippery slope if judges, interpreting the constitution, start requiring that specific programs be funded by the citizens."
— "Usurping legislative power," by Rob Christensen, News & Observer, April 21, 2002
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