RALEIGH (AP) ó Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson sued Gov. Beverly Perdue and the State Board of Education on Friday, seeking to reclaim the powers of her office and end her days as little more than North Carolina’s chief cheerleader for education.
Atkinson filed a lawsuit Friday in Wake County Superior Court, said Bob Orr, a former Supreme Court justice whose law advocacy group is assisting her.
Atkinson was re-elected in November, but Perdue persuaded the education board to hire her pick as board chairman to also be the chief executive officer to manage the state’s work educating about 1.5 million students.
The state constitution calls the superintendent the secretary and chief administrative officer of the school board that sets education policy, but state law lets the board dictate the superintendent’s job.
The lawsuit challenges what it calls acts of the governor, Legislature and state education board “which impede or otherwise interfere with the duties and responsibilities of the superintendent as the administrative head of the public school system of the state” and create the new CEO position.
Atkinson wants the court to issue orders declaring that Atkinson has the constitutional responsibility to administer the public schools and that other actions to shift power to chief executive officer Bill Harrison are null and void. She also said it’s illegal for Harrison to serve at both posts simultaneously.
“The efforts by the state board at the prompting and with the assistance of the governor to usurp the powers of the superintendent are unlawful and unconsitutional,” the lawsuit reads.
Atkinson had hinted for several weeks she was considering litigation. The last straw for Atkinson, elected to a second term as superintendent in last November’s statewide election, came in January when Gov. Beverly Perdue said she wanted her choice for chairman of the State Board of Education to become chief executive officer of the schools as well.
“I believe it is time for the court system to settle this constitutional issue once and for all,” Atkinson said at a news conference.
She said she and Harrison are working through their awkward relationship to find a way for both to co-exist until the courts decide their roles.
Orr said a decision by the state Supreme Court would take nine months or more.
Perdue has said she chose Harrison to consolidate power of the public schools to create more accountability and make clear the governor was ultimately responsible for education.
The board’s voting members largely are appointed by the governor and are directed to supervise and administer the public schools.
Legislation approved in 1995 gave the board flexibility to craft the superintendent’s job. The power of the post has ebbed and flowed since then, depending on who was on the job. During Atkinson’s first term, the board gave most of the day-to-day authority of the schools to a deputy superintendent.