NC Supreme Court Hears Arguments In Case Over Who Controls NC Education

The State Supreme Court is weighing arguments in the case of a power struggle between North Carolina's superintendent and the State Board of Education. The high court must decide whether legislators can mix and match powers seemingly spelled out in the state constitution.

The justices quizzed lawyers over whether the state government's most basic rules allow lawmakers to shift powers from the appointed state school board to the elected schools superintendent. Those powers include control of about $10 billion a year in education spending and oversight of charter schools.

An attorney representing the state school board said only voters can amend the constitution. And because of that, the General Assembly overstepped its powers by adopting the law a month after Republican Mark Johnson's election.

But Johnson's attorneys argue that the legislation returns powers stripped away by Democrats in the mid-1990s.

Legal experts say the case is important because it will clarify who's really in charge of the state's public schools.

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