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NC Supreme Court Hears Arguments In Case Over Who Controls NC Education

State Superintendent Mark Johnson. Screenshot: courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

The State Supreme Court is weighing arguments in the case of a power struggle between North Carolina's superintendent and the State Board of Education. The high court must decide whether legislators can mix and match powers seemingly spelled out in the state constitution.

The justices quizzed lawyers over whether the state government's most basic rules allow lawmakers to shift powers from the appointed state school board to the elected schools superintendent. Those powers include control of about $10 billion a year in education spending and oversight of charter schools.

An attorney representing the state school board said only voters can amend the constitution. And because of that, the General Assembly overstepped its powers by adopting the law a month after Republican Mark Johnson's election.

But Johnson's attorneys argue that the legislation returns powers stripped away by Democrats in the mid-1990s.

Legal experts say the case is important because it will clarify who's really in charge of the state's public schools.

*Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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