North Carolina Supreme Court Dismisses Landmark Education Funding Lawsuit

Ruling upholds legislative control over education spending, overturning previous court order to direct funds to address inequities.

Apr. 3, 2026 at 10:34am

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A high-contrast, brightly colored silkscreen print of a stack of textbooks repeated in a tight grid, conceptually representing the ongoing debate over education funding and policy in North Carolina.The North Carolina Supreme Court's decision to dismiss a landmark education funding lawsuit leaves the state legislature in full control over school budgets.Today in Raleigh

The North Carolina Supreme Court has thrown out a long-running lawsuit over education funding in the state, setting aside a 2022 ruling that had given a lower court judge the authority to order taxpayer money be directed to state agencies to address education inequities. The 4-3 decision, led by the court's Republican justices, reverses the previous Democratic majority's ruling and means the legislature will retain control over education spending decisions.

Why it matters

The ruling is a major victory for the Republican-controlled state legislature, which had resisted efforts by the courts to force increased education funding. Critics argue the decision leaves unresolved longstanding issues of educational inequity across North Carolina, particularly in low-income and rural areas.

The details

In Thursday's ruling, Chief Justice Paul Newby wrote that the case, which started as a modest lawsuit over spending in one county, had expanded into a "full-scale, facial assault on the entire educational system enacted by the General Assembly." Newby said judicial actions had gone too far, and ordered the school funding litigation to be dismissed. The 2022 ruling had calculated the state owed $678 million to fulfill a multi-billion dollar remedial plan to improve teacher pay, expand pre-K, and help students with disabilities.

  • The North Carolina Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case more than two years ago.
  • In 2022, the court's previous Democratic majority ruled that a lower court judge had the authority to order taxpayer funds be directed to address education inequities.
  • On Thursday, April 3, 2026, the court's new Republican majority overturned that 2022 ruling.

The players

North Carolina Supreme Court

The state's highest court, which issued the 4-3 ruling to dismiss the longstanding education funding lawsuit.

Paul Newby

The Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, who wrote the majority opinion in Thursday's ruling.

Josh Stein

The Democratic Governor of North Carolina, who was the state's Attorney General when the 2022 ruling was issued.

Phil Berger

The Republican leader of the North Carolina State Senate, who praised the court's decision as preventing "liberal education special interests" from imposing their policy preferences through the courts.

Tamika Walker Kelly

The president of the North Carolina Association of Educators, who criticized the ruling as failing generations of children in rural communities.

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What they’re saying

“The Supreme Court simply ignored its own established precedent, enabling the General Assembly to continue to deprive another generation of North Carolina students of the education promised by our constitution.”

— Josh Stein, Governor of North Carolina

“Allowing the state to escape judicial scrutiny for constitutional rights violations through its behavior during litigation quickly turns constitutional rights into words on paper - morally compelling but functionally useless.”

— Anita Earls, Associate Justice, North Carolina Supreme Court

“Liberal education special interests have improperly tried to hijack North Carolina's constitutional funding process in order to impose their policy preferences via judicial fiat. Today's decision confirms that the proper pathway for policymaking is the legislative process.”

— Phil Berger, Republican Senate Leader

“The people paying the price for our leaders' failure are not abstractions. They are the generations of children in rural communities, past and present, who waited for 30 years for a promise never fulfilled.”

— Tamika Walker Kelly, President, North Carolina Association of Educators

What’s next

The North Carolina General Assembly will now have full control over education funding decisions as it crafts the state's next budget, without being bound by the remedial plan ordered by the lower court in 2022.

The takeaway

This ruling represents a major shift in the balance of power over education policy in North Carolina, with the Republican-led legislature regaining full authority over funding decisions after years of court oversight. The decision leaves unresolved long-standing issues of educational inequity, particularly in the state's rural and low-income communities.