The state Attorney General's Office won't appeal a Superior Court judge's decision that June Atkinson, the state superintendent of public instruction, has the legal authority to run the state education agency.

Gov. Beverly Perdue had hired Bill Harrison to run the state Department of Public Instruction. In doing so, Perdue went around Atkinson, who had twice won statewide elections for state superintendent.

Atkinson, a Democrat, hired former state Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, a Republican who runs the N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law, tofight the decision in court. She won a Superior Court ruling in July.

The Attorney General's Office said immediately after the ruling that it would appeal. But the office decided last month not to, said spokeswoman Noelle Talley.