Free Republic

June Atkinson has won her court fight over who is in charge of public education in North Carolina. Superior Court Judge Robert Hobgood ruled today that Atkinson, who was elected statewide as the state superintendent of public instruction, has the authority under North Carolina's constitution to run the state's schools. Hobgood ruled that the State Board of Education has the authority to set policy for the state's public schools, but that the state constitution dictates that Atkinson, as the state superintendent, is responsible for implementing those policies. Atkinson, a Democrat, had sued Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue and the State Board...

School superintendent June Atkinson plans to sue the state so she can run the state Department of Public Instruction. The suit will be announced at a news conference tomorrow. She will be represented by former Supreme Court Justice Robert Orr, who runs the N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law. Gov. Beverly Perdue, the State Board of Education, and William Harrison, whom Perdue appointed to run the education agency, will be defendants, Orr said. Atkinson, who was elected to a second term in November, has never run the state education agency. The state constitution and state law have made muddled mess of...