Court upholds school funding formula
Posted: 09.01.2009 at 4:06 PM
Missouri Supreme Court Building
JEFFERSON CITY, MO. (AP) -- Missouri's school funding formula has been upheld by the state Supreme Court.
The decision Tuesday by the high court caps a five-year legal battle in which schools argued that the state fails to provide enough money and does not distribute it fairly.
The Supreme Court said the constitution contains no fundamental right to equal per-pupil spending. The court said the constitution also includes no requirement for the state to provide more than 25 percent of its revenues to schools.
The ruling upheld a 2007 decision by a Cole County judge.
Fewer than half of Missouri's 523 school districts participated in the lawsuit. The legal battle cost more than $6 million, most of which was financed by public school districts or the state.
(Copyright ©2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)