SD School Funding is Constitutional

     PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - The South Dakota Supreme Court has upheld
the constitutionality of the state's system for funding school
districts.
     In a unanimous ruling issued Thursday, the high court says a
lawsuit supported by school districts failed to prove that the
funding system fails to provide enough money or harms student
achievement.
     The Supreme Court decision upholds a ruling by a circuit judge
who found the funding system was constitutional because it provides
students with an adequate education that prepares them for life
after high school.
     About two-thirds of the state's school districts have helped pay
legal expenses in the lawsuit. The lawsuit contended the South
Dakota Constitution provides the right to a free, adequate and
quality education.