First volley fired in school funding suit against the state

By Gordon Garnos

AT ISSUE: Can a group of K-12 schools sue the state of South Dakota over inadequate funding? That question has been bobbing around for a long time, first as threats, then by the organization of about 70 school boards from across the state. Until recently there was a lot of question whether such a lawsuit could even be heard by the judiciary in South Dakota. Circuit Judge Lori Wilbur of Pierre recently announced the case can now proceed and the first volley was fired at what could be a series of preliminary hearings before the trial now scheduled to start in June 2008. (Full Story)