Many state constitutions have a provision in them that directly affords a right to education.  Over the last decade, several state supreme courts have grappled with how to decide cases that challenged school funding.

The cases are not easy.  There is a natural reluctance of judges to order the other branches of government to spend money.  Separation of powers and political question doctrines permeate the cases.  And then there is the political fallout.

The New Hampshire Supreme Court and the Washington Supreme Court, among others, took serious political heat for their conclusion that the schools were unconstitutionally funded.  And so we can now look to Kansas:

“Under the facts of this case, the district court panel did not apply the correct test to determine whether the State met its duty to provide adequacy in K-12 public education as required under Article 6 of the Kansas Constitution.”

So ruled a unanimous Supreme Court of Kansas in a 110-page per curiam decision issued today.