Topeka ? For those looking for clues during oral arguments on how the Kansas Supreme Court will rule on school finance: Proceed with caution.

The arguments scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. Monday will be shown live on the Internet.

Justices of the Kansas Supreme Court are, back row from left, Robert Gernon, Lawton Nuss, Marla Luckert and Carol Beier, and front row, from left, Donald Allegrucci, Chief Justice Kay McFarland and Robert Davis.

Both sides will be given a limited time to argue, but the attorneys can expect to be interrupted by frequent questions from the seven justices.

And while spectators often try to guess how a justice may rule based on his or her questions, the justices many times are simply playing devil’s advocate, or trying to elicit a response for the benefit of another justice.

Alan Rupe, the Wichita attorney representing the plaintiff school districts, said oral arguments often were lively and surprising.

“It’s as close as I’ll ever come to bungee jumping,” he said.

Links and instructions for accessing the video streamed broadcast are on the Kansas courts Web site, www.kscourts.org, and on the Kan-Ed project, at www.kanedlive.org.

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