The North Carolina Supreme Court has dismissed a $5.6 billion school funding plan after a decades-long battle over public education spending. The decision comes at a time when North Carolina student performance is still below the national average. The court ruled 4-3 against the funding plan, with Democrats Allison Riggs and Anita Earls dissenting. The case, which dates back to 1994, has been heard at multiple levels and continues to be heard again in 2024. The state has already spent $579 million this school year on vouchers for the vast majority of its 135,000 private school students. The North Carolina Association of Educators called it a "moral failure" to dismiss the case.