Topeka ? Attorneys for medium-sized school districts argued Tuesday that $852 million in new education spending was the only way to close an achievement gap between white and minority students.

Alan Rupe, an attorney for parents and administrators in the Salina and Dodge City school districts, said the only way to eliminate unfairness in the state’s school finance system was to add money. He said the state should spend as much money as recommended in 2001 by a Denver consulting firm, Augenblick & Myers.

The plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the state in 1999 and have the support of other districts of similar size. Closing arguments were Tuesday in Shawnee County District Court.

“You write out a purchase order and you tell the state to do it,” said Rupe, gesturing to a large mock-up of a state purchase order.

Attorneys Dan Biles and Kenneth Weltz, representing the state and the State Board of Education, countered that Kansas’ 1992 school finance law wasn’t systemically flawed and did not need a massive infusion of dollars to close achievement gaps.

Biles said if problems existed, legislators should be directed to fix the inequalities.

District Judge Terry Bullock plans to issue a ruling next week. Tuesday’s closing arguments followed eight days of testimony in September and October.

During that trial, attorneys for parents and administrators in Salina and Dodge City argued that differences in test scores among groups of students were made worse by low funding.

Under the state’s 1992 school finance law, they said, districts with higher concentrations of poor students, minority students and students with limited English skills could not afford to deal with the challenges faced by those students.

Rupe said Tuesday that districts were able to close the achievement gap in some instances but had to “rob Peter to pay Paul.” He added that money did matter.

“We just need the resources,” he said.

Kansas spends $3,863 per pupil on education, about $2.6 billion annually. But the state provides extra money in some cases — for example, for every student who receives a free lunch, or for each student in a small district. The amount districts receive can vary by as much as $10,000 per pupil.

Legislators commissioned the Augenblick & Myers study but have largely ignored it since is release in May 2001 because of the cost of following its recommendations.