Newton ? A coalition of school districts has voted to file a new education funding lawsuit against the state.

Friday’s vote from members of Schools for Fair Funding was expected after the Kansas Supreme Court refused last week to allow the group to reopen a school finance case that was dismissed in 2006.

John Robb, the lead attorney for the coalition of more than 70 school districts, said the soonest the case would be filed is probably late summer.

The lawsuit comes amid cuts in education spending over the past year as the state has faced declining revenues. The school districts argue the cuts hurt the quality of education.

“Today represents the beginning of a process,” said Hutchinson schools Superintendent David Flowers.

The case the group sought to reopen was filed in 1999 by the parents of Ryan Montoy. They claimed their son, a student in the Salina school district, wasn’t getting a fair education compared with other students elsewhere in the state.