The News & Observer details the truancy:

About 40 people protesting likely cuts to education in the new state budget stood in the rain outside the General Assembly on Wednesday, chanting and addressing the mostly absent establishment. With the return of legislators to Raleigh in a tight-budget year, advocates for a wide spectrum of opinions are showing up.

With an eye to possible legislation and fall elections, some want to shore up existing public schools, and others want to encourage more education choices for families.

“No cuts, no fees! Education should be free!” Charlotte student Baira Ramos, 16, chanted along with about three dozen other students and teachers.

Ramos said she came to Raleigh for the event and lobbying, organized by a coalition of liberal groups, because she’s concerned about the gap between the offerings of schools in Charlotte’s wealthy neighborhoods and those in low-income areas.

I agree with Ramos. There is a huge gap between low-income and wealthy neighborhoods. As I discussed in a recent education newsletter about public school expenditures in Mecklenburg County, schools that have a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students receive between $3,000 and $5,000 more per student than schools that have few low-income kids.