Jul 17 2009
Atkinson 1, Perdue 0
June Atkinson says she is ready to go back to work on Monday, even if that means some awkward moments at the office.
Wake Superior Court Judge Robert Hobgood ruled today that Atkinson, the state superintendent of public instruction, has the constitutional authority to run the state’s schools.
The ruling was in response to a suit brought by Atkinson, a Democrat, after the State Board of Education stripped her of her powers and Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue appointed William Harrison to run the state Department of Public Instruction and chair the State Board of Education.
The ruling means that Harrison will, in one capacity, now work for Atkinson when they show up for work on Monday.
“There may be some awkward moments,” Atkinson told reporters after the court ruling. “But after those awkward moments, we expect to move forward.”
Let’s all thank Bev Perdue for ignoring the state constitution and initiating this absurdist carnival of wasted tax dollars.
Oh, and big ups to Bob Orr, a Republican jurist who represented Atkinson.
June Atkinson wasn’t the only big winner today. Bob Orr also won.
Orr, a former state Supreme Court justice, is a student and teacher of North Carolina’s constitution. He cited the constitution regularly last year when he unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for governor. (During his run for governor, Orr offered his own plan for how the state’s public schools should be governed.)
