A North Carolina judge has agreed to sign an order that calls for $427 million in additional education spending this year to carry out longstanding court rulings on public school funding. Superior Court Judge David Lee formally backed on Tuesday the spending plan developed by the State Board of Education and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration. Judge Lee is in charge of carrying out responses to state Supreme Court rulings related to students and their opportunity "to receive a sound basic education." The General Assembly would have to approve such funding, and a judge can’t force lawmakers to spend money.