It has been a full quarter century since Robeson and four other poor counties sued North Carolina, saying that its constitutional pledge of providing an “opportunity for a sound basic education” to all students in the public schools was undermined by a flawed funding system.

The plaintiffs in what became known as the Leandro case argued that poor counties such as Robeson, despite being heavily taxed, could not produce the local revenue to fund their systems as well as wealthy counties such as Wake, Mecklenberg and Orange, and the result was a disparity in the level of education provided by those systems.

It was a strong argument, even if it was based on a premise that remains hotly debated and studies have been unable to settle convincingly — that the more dollars that flow into a school system, the better it will be.

The N.C. Supreme Court in 1997 decided in favor of the plaintiffs, and more than two decades later, the Public Schools of Robeson County remains one of the worst funded in the state, and our students continue to trail their peers in just about every educational metric of value. We certainly are on board with the idea that a child’s access to a strong education should not be determined by their zip code, but to a disappointing degree, that is the case.

Just last week a report was made public that was a product of WestEd, a California consulting firm that was hired to advise the state on how to proceed with the recommendations of Leandro. Not surprisingly, the 300-page report, titled “Sound Basic Education for All: An Action Plan for North Carolina,” leans heavily on the state providing more money for schools, $8 billion over the next eight years, which would surely reverse the Republican-led effort in recent years to reduce taxes and would actually mean tax increases.

The question remains, however, if Superior Court Judge David Lee, who was appointed to oversee the case, will order that the recommendations be implemented, and if he did, would that be constitutional. In North Carolina, it is the General Assembly, not the judicial or executive branches, that control the purse.

WestEd recommends that the bulk of the money, about $6 billion, be spent on programs to ensure students achieve at grade level and then maintain that achievement, with just more than $1 billion directed toward N.C. Pre-K and Smart Start to ensure young students get off on the right foot.

Not all of WestEd’s recommendations come with a hefty price-tag. The report also recommends the state adopt a weighted student funding model, provide greater financial freedom for principals, and create alternative staffing models.

It’s anybody’s guess how effective the recommendations, if fully funded and implemented, would be in leveling the educational playing field across the state. But what strikes us, is the clumsy pace at which Leandro has progressed, if that is even the right characterization.

During the 25 years that have passed since the lawsuit was filed, generations of students have gone through those languishing school systems, including our own, and only now are recommendations being made, and who knows if they will ever be implemented — and if so, their level of effectiveness.

It just cements our belief that any fix for the Public Schools of Robeson County is likely to be found locally and not in Raleigh, which, truthfully, is an uninspiring note on which to end today’s Our View.