Superior Court Judge Howard E. Manning, Jr. doesn't look or sound like the Disney version of Cinderella's Fairy Godmother. Yet, this image came to mind recently after Judge Manning invoked the story of Cinderella in his continuing oversight of the Leandro case.
The Leandro decisions are the most important NC Supreme Court rulings in living memory. The Court established that every child in North Carolina has a constitutional right to the "opportunity for a sound basic education." The Justices also made it plain that the state has an inescapable constitutional obligation to provide that opportunity to all children throughout our state. No loopholes. No more appeals.
Enter Judge Manning wielding a gavel rather than a wand. The original Cinderella required her Fairy Godmother's help to get to the royal ball. Today, North Carolina's Cinderellas need Judge Manning's assistance to get a sound basic education.
Unfortunately, there is more than a wicked stepmother and a couple of conniving step-sisters to overcome on the way to "living happily ever after" for our children. Despite the bi-partisan rhetoric in favor of education, there continues to be real resistance to doing what needs to be done and paying what needs to be paid in order to fulfill Leandro's most basic requirement -- a good teacher in every classroom and a good principal for every school across our state.
One would think that meeting a rock-solid constitutional mandate would top the state's "have to" list. Think again. Since the North Carolina Supreme Court issued its final Leandro decision in July, the response from our leaders has been underwhelming. The Leandro decision was not a hot campaign issue in the races for state-level offices -- not even in the race for State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
But, Leandro will not go away. This constitutional mandate will land squarely on the shoulders of the General Assembly when it reconvenes in January. In anticipation, Judge Manning is overseeing the planning process through which the long-delayed promise of Leandro finally might be fulfilled.
The discussions in Judge Manning's courtroom have focused almost exclusively on North Carolina's education system. It will be a monumental achievement to end up with first-rate teachers in well-run schools throughout the state. It also will be a blessing and a triumph for our schools to be able to meet the needs of all the students who are struggling academically. Judge Manning rightly is adamant that students throughout North Carolina's schools will gain better opportunities during his watch.
And yet, as crucial as this school-based focus is, it is important to remember that the State Supreme Court did not limit this constitutional right only to currently enrolled students and did not say that the remedies must occur exclusively within our education system. Instead, the Justices went out of their way to emphasize that all children have the same Leandro right. It doesn't matter whether a specific child is in-school or out-of-school, 17 days old or 17-years-old, nor whether her parents are dirt poor or filthy rich.
What does matter is that young North Carolinians actually get what they need to succeed. Ironically, the good teachers demanded by the courts also would be the first people to confess their own limitations and to advocate for the non-classroom opportunities and assistance their students desperately need. From the 9-year-old with chronic, untreated asthma to the ninth grader whose education is being undermined by substance abuse, teachers and parents know that these missing opportunities are many and varied.
Some children simply need eyeglasses or hearing aids in order to really have the opportunity for a sound basic education. Others need an after-school tutor or a mentor. Still others need on-going mental health services. The Leandro remedies must be responsive to individual realities and differences among children.
Judge Manning's repeated disdain for "one-size-fits-all" solutions shows that he understands this point well. In fact, his willingness to advocate for pre-kindergarten education moved the case in the right direction. The state's proposed expansion of "More at Four" also demonstrates the recognition that vital opportunities for children neither begin nor end at the schoolhouse door. These are welcome first steps toward a much more comprehensive implementation of Leandro.
It would be more than a shame for any child to be excluded or treated as less deserving of their Leandro rights than any other child. Equally, it would be wrong to pit the needed opportunities for one group of children against another. Instead, let's create all the opportunities -- deep within, and well beyond, the education system -- that will enable all of our children to end up with a sound basic education.
In the Cinderella story, there was only one pair of magic slippers, one Princess and one winner. In the Leandro reality, North Carolina has the chance to produce millions of winners -- children who despite the odds against them truly will get the opportunity to make the most of their lives. That's a storybook ending worth fighting for.
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Dr. Sher is a senior fellow at the N.C. Child Advocacy Institute (www.ncchild.org) and co-director of the Leandro Advocacy Project.
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