Operation Push to file legal brief in school case

The Rainbow-PUSH Coalition has joined friends of the Kansas Supreme Court who are allowed to weigh in on a lawsuit challenging the state's school finance procedure. Chief Justice Kay McFarland granted the request from the Rev. Jesse Jackson's Chicago-based organization on Tuesday, setting a deadline of July 30 for the group to file its legal brief. The seven-member court is scheduled to hear arguments Aug. 30 on the state's appeal of a Shawnee County District Court judge's Dec. 2 ruling, which declared unconstitutional the state's system for distributing $2.7 billion to public schools. A ruling could come as early as October. The lawsuit was filed in 1999 on behalf of parents and administrators in the Dodge City and Salina school districts. They argued the school finance law distributed funds unfairly, hurting poor and minority students in particular. [more]