A Connecticut Superior Court judge wrote a scathing indictment of his state's public education system. We've curated the 10 best lines.

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In a follow-up to its School Money series, the NPR Ed Team reports on three states that have, in recent weeks, made news for big challenges to their school funding systems: Texas, Arizona and Kansas.

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A lawsuit over the way public schools are financed in the state became so dramatic that it inspired some New York City high school students to write a play about it.

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Rising property values in Oregon in the '90s led voters to cap property taxes. The state turned to income tax to fund its schools. But that can be unpredictable, and schools have suffered ever since.

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How is it that the nation's 14th richest state ranks 42nd in how much it spends per student in schools? It all comes down to Colorado's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, or TABOR.

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Recently the Kansas Supreme Court told lawmakers: Fix our broken school funding system, or public schools could shut down on June 30. Some lawmakers say Kansas already spends too much on education.

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There are huge gaps in school funding between affluent and property-poor districts. And, with evidence that money matters, especially for disadvantaged kids, something has to change.

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In 1997, the New Jersey Supreme Court ordered millions of dollars in additional funding to 31 of the poorest school districts in the state. Camden alone spends about $23,000 per student per year.

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Jameria Miller moved from an affluent Philadelphia-area school district to one with fewer resources. That's when she learned her state has one of the nation's most inequitable school funding systems.

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In 1990, Kentucky did something no other state had ever done: It completely changed the way its public schools were governed and funded. Despite big gains, poor districts still struggle to catch up.

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When the state overhauled the school funding system by pouring resources into low-income districts, schools in Massachusetts went from the middle of the pack to first place.

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It's one of the loudest debates in education: whether spending more money adds up to better test scores and graduation rates.

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One school in Sumter County, Ala., is so underfunded, the principal says there's no money for badly needed repairs. And something else is missing from the schools: the county's white residents.

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Tiffany Anderson serves as a crossing guard in the Jennings School District outside St. Louis, Mo. She's also the superintendent, and that's just one way she stretches district money in creative ways.

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