Do More for Needy Students, N.C. Court Orders

By Kathleen Kennedy Manzo

The state of North Carolina is ultimately responsible for ensuring that each of its children has access to a sound basic education, a state judge declared last week in his fourth and final ruling in the state's 8-year-old school finance case.

North Carolina must do more, he said, to provide well-trained teachers and administrators, as well as enough resources for delivering an effective instructional program.

While public school advocates celebrated the April 4 ruling for focusing on the children with the greatest needs, state officials were still trying to decipher how the decision would affect the state's school finance system and the balance of...