TOPEKA ? The Kansas Supreme Court today rejected a request from Atty. Gen. Phill Kline to give the Legislature more time to work on school finance during the special legislative session.

“Unbounded delay in this case is unacceptable,” the court said in its order. Court spokesman Ron Keefover also said he will hold a news conference Saturday to “announce the court’s next step in this litigation.”

On June 3, the court ordered the Legislature to increase school funding by $143 million. It had earlier ruled the school finance system unconstitutional due to inadequate funding.

The court set a deadline of today, and lawmakers have been meeting in special session since June 22. On Thursday, Kline sought more time for the session.

But today the court said Kline’s request was for an indefinite amount of time.

That would not be reasonable, the court said, “in light of the many years comprising the lengthy history of this litigation and the command of the Constitution of the State of Kansas that the legislature shall make suitable provision for finance of the educational interests of this state.”

The school finance lawsuit was filed in 1999 by parents and students of low-wealth school districts who alleged the state was under-funding their schools.