Panther Valley School District is part of a case that could lead to a huge change in the way the state funds education.

On Tuesday, the state Supreme Court will hear arguments in a lawsuit saying that state lawmakers have failed to meet their constitutional duty to fund the cost of education.“Many of the districts spending the least are taxing the most because they don’t have the resources,” attorney Michael Churchill said.The lawsuit was initially filed in 2014 by lawyers from the Public Interest Law Center of Pennsylvania on behalf of six school districts, including Panther Valley, and a long list of parents.Even though the case was thrown out by Commonwealth Court last year, the plaintiffs had the right to appeal the case to the State Supreme court.Churchill says the case starts with the Pennsylvania state constitution, which reads “The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education to serve the needs of the commonwealth.”The plaintiffs believe that Harrisburg has not lived up to that mandate. He says lawmakers have shifted the burden of funding education to local school districts, while asking them to meet ever-increasing standards for education.Local districts fund a much larger share of their budgets than they did even 15 years ago.“Relying on local districts for the bulk of the funding doesn’t appear to work. When the places that have the most need have the least money, you know that it’s not a rational system,” he said.More than 20 school districts have passed resolutions supporting the lawsuit, including Jim Thorpe Area School District.The lawsuit follows the path of other suits over government’s constitutional obligation to fund education.Last week, a judge in Connecticut ordered that state to come up with a new formula for funding education.The Pennsylvania case was thrown out of Commonwealth Court because the court said the case represented a violation of the separation of powers between the judiciary and the Legislature.Churchill said that by appealing the case to the state Supreme Court they are asking the high court to overturn that decision and make the Commonwealth Court hear their case.“The issue will be whether or not the courts are willing to step in and review if the funding system is rational — and we think that’s a very appropriate role for the courts to play — and to make sure the constitutional mandates are lived up to,” Churchill said.In 2007, Gov. Ed Rendell’s administration came up with a new formula based on the actual cost of education. However they didn’t come up with the billions of dollars in new revenue required to make it work. In 2011, Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration scrapped the formula.Corbett did make an attempt to make education more equal. A commission made up of legislators developed a funding formula. But that commission made it clear that it was not tasked with determining the actual cost of education in the state, Churchill said.Panther Valley is a good example of how increasing taxes do not necessarily lead to increased revenue. The district has the lowest median income in the county when compared to other school districts.Despite having the highest millage rate in the county, 57.69 in 2015-16, Panther Valley still was forced to raise taxes this year.School officials say they’ve seen firsthand how the disparity in funding can affect districts. Edward Albert, a former superintendent in Berks County, now works for the Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools, which is also a petitioner in the case.He said that it’s hard for cash-strapped districts to retain quality teaching talent when other districts are offering higher pay. That’s especially true for foreign language programs.“There’s been a greater widening of the gap — the rich keep getting richer, the poor keep getting poorer,” he said.During the 1970s, Albert recalled, Harrisburg would supply about 50 percent of local school budgets. That has dipped to about 35 percent.Albert said that in order to meet the increasing demands placed on Pennsylvania school districts — first through test scores, and now through the state-mandated School Performance Profile — they need more resources.“When we get mandates and no funding, that is difficult. I could tell you to remodel your house, give you specifications and a time frame. But if I don’t give you the money to do that, how can it be completed?” he said.