Topeka The Kansas Supreme Court today said it will issue its decision in the school finance case on Friday.

The court also said Chief Justice Kay McFarland will issue a statement at the time the opinion is released.

Ron Keefover, a spokesman for the court, said McFarland has never done that before.

At stake in the case is the $3.1 billion funding method that supports the 450,000-student public school system.

In 2005, the state Supreme Court declared the system unconstitutional because it shortchanged all students, especially schools in districts with high proportions of low-income students. Some of those districts brought the lawsuit in 1999.

The court accepted a $290 million increase after a special legislative session, as a down payment pending the outcome of a study showing the actual costs of providing an adequate education.

That study done by the Legislative Division of Post Audit recommended a $400 million increase for the next school year.

In May, the Legislature approved a $466 million increase, but stretched that over three years with the first-year increase totaling $194.5 million. That measure, called Senate Bill 549, is before the court. Rejection of the bill by the court could force another special legislative session.

The court said today that its decision on Friday also will be posted online at www.kscourts.org.