Judge probes if NC student shortcomings are legal problem

RALEIGH, NC (AP) — A state judge wants an explanation of test results showing that more than half of North Carolina public school students are not learning at grade level.

Superior Court Judge Howard Manning Jr. has scheduled a hearing Wednesday to review problems he sees in the two most recent years of standardized test results.

The hearing is the latest in a series Manning has held over the years to test whether the state’s education bureaucracy and policymakers are living up to their constitutional obligation. The state is required to give every North Carolina child the opportunity to have a sound, basic education.

The state Supreme Court named Manning to oversee compliance with its decisions in education lawsuits which started in 1995.

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