HELENA - It's round two for "schools versus the state of Montana." Helena District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock will hold a new hearing on the school funding lawsuit.

The hearing will determine whether or not the state has fixed an inadequate funding formula that was declared unconstitutional three years ago. Ideally, the Montana Quality Education Coalition would like an additional $260 million dollars worth of funding every year.

"Our interest is really to continue to work with the Legislature to find a remedy for school funding that will address short term as well as long term," explained Helena Superintendent and MQEC member Dr. Bruce Messinger. "And a plan that's self-executing and is sustainable."

Defending the state's stance on the lawsuit, Governor Brian Schweitzer commented, "It's time for the Legislature to buckle down and just do the right thing by education. But there's a limit to how much money we can invest."

The state contends that the 2005 Legislature did make appropriate funding changes to meet the Montana Supreme Court's definition of "quality education."