Topeka ? Kansas filed a widely expected appeal Wednesday of a ruling that found the state isn’t spending enough money on its public schools to provide a suitable education.

Attorney General Derek Schmidt called the ruling “legally flawed” in a statement announcing that his office had filed paperwork with the Kansas Supreme Court.

Schmidt had vowed last month to challenge the Shawnee County District Court panel’s December ruling that the current funding is “inadequate from any rational perspective of the evidence.” The panel did not set a specific figure for what is adequate, but said the evidence suggests it should be at least $548 million more a year, or $4,654 per student in base state aid — and possibly much higher.

Kansas is facing a shortfall of nearly $600M in the budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Schmidt has said it is hard to imagine a ruling coming during this year’s legislative session.

Parents of more than 30 students and the Dodge City, Hutchinson, Wichita and Kansas City, Kansas, school districts sued the state in 2010 after recession-driven budget problems caused it to back away from promised increases in education funding.

The state constitution says the Legislature must make “suitable provision” for financing public schools. The Kansas Supreme Court has declared in previous rulings that state spending must ensure all children get a suitable education.