HARRISBURG - This is one of the most important elections in decades for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and now, an important case involving public education funding is headed its way.

The scenario emerged when the lower Commonwealth Court threw out a lawsuit last week calling for an end to sharp inequities in what school districts spend to educate students. The Commonwealth Court found it is the General Assembly's job under the state constitution to determine education funding issues, not the judicial branch.

The plaintiffs, including three school districts in Northeastern Pennsylvania, plan to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. The appeal could possibly be considered later this year, but it's more likely to happen in 2016, observers said.

The seven-member high court currently has two vacancies and that could mean there was some trepidation about having just five justices decide such a major case.

Pennsylvania voters will solve that problem in November when they elect three justices to 10-year terms.

This is apparently the first time that three Supreme Court seats are on the ballot in the same year. It's due to a combination of two justices resigning due to scandal and one mandatory retirement.

Twelve candidates, including Justice Correale Stevens of Luzerne County, who currently is serving an interim term through appointment, have filed to run for those seats.

Wilkes-Barre Area School District, Shenandoah Valley School District in Schuylkill County and Panther Valley School District in Carbon County are among the plaintiffs in the education funding lawsuit. It charges the funding disparities violate the state constitution and the state's equal protection clause.

Education spending in Pennsylvania ranges from a low of $9,800 per pupil to a peak of $28,400 per pupil, according to the lawsuit.

"At a time when research and the national press have singled out Pennsylvania as the state with the most unequal funding in the country, we are disappointed that the Commonwealth Court did not address this claim in any meaningful way," said Maura McInerney, an attorney with the Education Law Center-PA. "We believe the Supreme Court will set the law right and recognize that courts have a clear duty to address both claims."

Advocates urge voters to keep the education funding case in mind as they consider the crop of judicial candidates.

That can be difficult, given rules against candidates commenting specifically on cases before the court, but voters can examine judicial records and ask questions at candidate forums.

Industrial hemp

Rep. Marty Flynn, D-Scranton, has teamed up with a Republican lawmaker to introduce legislation to allow Pennsylvania farmers to cultivate hemp for industrial use through academic research programs.

The bill would bring Pennsylvania in line with federal law which allows pilot hemp-growing pilot programs at universities and agricultural research facilities, said Flynn and Rep. Russ Diamond, R-Lebanon.

Flynn sees economic potential for hemp down the road as federal regulations are eased to allow for domestic production.

Hemp is a durable fiber that is used for insulation, soil fertilizer and in other commercial products worldwide. But it has been put mistakenly in the same category as marijuana in this country, Flynn said.

The two products are separate varieties of the same plant, but hemp doesn't have enough of the THC compound to produce a marijuana high, he added.

Robert Swift is Harrisburg bureau chief for Times-ShamrockCommunications newspapers. He can be reached at rswift@timesshamrock.com.