Topeka ? An attorney for the State Board of Education moved Tuesday for an early Kansas Supreme Court decision on whether Kansas spent enough money on its public schools or distributed its dollars fairly.

Attorney Dan Biles sought permission from Shawnee County District Judge Terry Bullock to appeal an order Bullock issued Dec. 2, declaring the state’s 1992 school-finance law constitutionally flawed.

Biles needs Bullock’s permission because the judge issued only a preliminary order in a lawsuit filed in 1999 by parents and administrators in the Salina and Dodge City school districts. Bullock gave legislators and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius until July 1 to fix the flaws he identified and did not plan to issue a final order until after the deadline passed.

Some legislators prefer to wait until the Supreme Court rules before considering major changes in the school-finance system. Some believe the state is likely to obtain a more favorable ruling from the higher court as well.

In his request, Biles said an immediate appeal of Bullock’s preliminary order would help resolve the lawsuit more quickly.

“If we wait, we stand the possibility of losing a whole academic year before a remedy gets done,” Biles said before filing his request. “Let’s get on with it.”

Before Biles acted, both Sebelius and Atty. Gen. Phill Kline were skeptical that Bullock would agree to turn the lawsuit loose. Kline announced Monday he would wait until after Bullock’s deadline passed and the judge issued a final order to appeal the case to the Supreme Court.

However, former Atty. Gen. Bob Stephan, now a Lenexa legal consultant, said trying to get the case before the Supreme Court made sense.

“It’s going to be up in the air until the Supreme Court rules,” Stephan said. “Certainly, it’s ultimately going to end up with the Supreme Court.”

Kansas’ 303 school districts receive expect to receive $3.9 billion during the current school year from state, federal and local sources. The state’s share is expected to be about $2.6 billion.

Bullock ruled the money available to schools was not enough to provide all children with a suitable education. Furthermore, he said, the state distributes its funds unfairly, hurting poor and minority students whose scores on standardized tests are lower than those of other students.

Even before Bullock ruled, Sebelius said she would submit a school-finance plan to legislators when their 2004 session convenes Jan. 12.

“I think it is very dangerous for the future our children not to take very seriously the parameters that we were given by the judge,” Sebelius said Tuesday. “I’m hoping we just get to work and begin to resolve the problems.”

The lawsuit named both the state and the Board of Education as defendants, setting up a situation where the board has its own attorney even though Kline represents state government.

Kline spokesman Whitney Watson said the attorney general would join in an appeal of Bullock’s decision, “if there is an appeal granted.”

Biles acknowledged such an appeal — before a judge has issued a final order — was unusual. However, he said there was precedence.

After passage of the 1992 school finance law, critics challenged it in court. A district judge declared the law was flawed, and, like Bullock in the most recent case, told legislators to fix it. But that judge allowed attorneys to take the case to the Supreme Court, which overruled the lower court and upheld the entire law in 1994.

“It’s appropriate now,” Biles said of his attempt.