Ala. High Court Agrees System Unconstitutional

Nearly four years after a judge struck down Alabama's school finance laws, the state supreme court has joined the cause, agreeing that the school system is unconstitutional and giving the legislature a year to fix it.

The split court said that legislators and state officials will need time to devise a constitutional system. If they fail to do so within a year, the trial court may adopt its own solution, the justices said in their Jan. 10 decision.

C.C. "Bo" Torbert, a lawyer for the districts that had originally sued the state, called the ruling a "big win," but added that he was...