This is Part 2 of a two-part episode. Listen to Part 1 featuring Bryan Proffitt of the NCAE first.

If a child's opportunity depends on their zip code, race, or family income, are we really giving every child the same chance? In Part 2, Kai sits down with Susanna Benitez of the Education Justice Alliance, leading the Every Child North Carolina Coalition, and Sarah Montgomery of the NC Justice Center, to discuss who bears the sharpest costs of North Carolina's disinvestment in public schools and what communities are doing to fight back.

They dig into the April dismissal of the landmark Leandro case, what it means for the decades-long fight for a sound, basic education, the ripple effects on districts like Winston-Salem/Forsyth and Cumberland County, and why school board elections are just as consequential as any race on the ballot. The conversation closes with a direct call to action: stay organized, stay informed, and know that the future of North Carolina's classrooms is on the ballot.

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