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NC Supreme Court Dismisses Case Over Pre-K Restrictions

scales of justice
Scott*/Flickr

The North Carolina Supreme Court Friday dismissed a case involving restrictions on the state’s pre-kindergarten programs. 

An attorney for five school districts who challenged the restrictions, Melanie Dubis, says the ruling was expected.

"From our perspective," she says, "the legislation was clearly unconstitutional, we challenged that legislation. The trial court ruled, and while that appeal was pending, the legislature changed the legislation.” 

The legislature passed law in question was passed 2011. It capped the enrollment of at-risk 4-year-olds and cut Pre-K funding by 20%. The school districts claimed the changes violated the state constitution, based on a 2004 ruling that said the state could not restrict access to Pre-K programs. The districts won, but the state appealed. In 2012, the legislature did away with the restrictions.

The high court’s ruling calls the state’s appeal “moot,” because the law challenged in the original case no longer exists.