Bolstered by new support from a group of small schools, a legal challenge to North Dakota's education finance system could be launched as early as this month, school superintendents say.

One of its principal assertions will raise a sensitive subject for school administrators, board members and parents - whether North Dakota public school students are learning as much as they should.

"You don't want to stand up and say our school is not doing very well," said Steve Swiontek, the Devils Lake school superintendent. "It's a difficult line to cross … but at the same time, I think our message is that we do a good job, but we could do a much better job if we were brought up to the (money) levels of the other school districts."

Devils Lake is one of eight school districts that has agreed to file a lawsuit against how North Dakota distributes more than $350 million in state aid to schools every year.

Schools in Devils Lake, Grafton, Williston and Surrey first began exploring plans for legal action last year. Recently, three small schools near Grand Forks - Larimore, Thompson and Hatton - have joined the group, along with Des Lacs-Burlington, a district northwest of Minot.

Jack Maus, the school superintendent in Hatton and nearby Northwood, said the schools are relying more on local property taxes to pay for their operations. Hatton has a relatively small amount of taxable property to support each student, and the lack of state money hurts, Maus said.

Board members "are just frustrated over the funding issue," he said.

The districts are splitting attorneys' fees according to each school's enrollment. They have totaled close to $50,000 so far. Swiontek said the lawsuit could be filed by month's end, in state district court in Williston or Devils Lake.

Devils Lake, Grafton and Surrey were among a group of school districts that challenged North Dakota's school finance system in 1989, saying it did not measure up to the state Constitution's promise of a uniform system of free public schools.

The state Supreme Court ruled against the schools in January 1994. Three of the five justices sided with their arguments, but four votes were needed to conclude that the state law was unconstitutional.

In their new lawsuit, the school districts "have a difficult burden," Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said. "They have to convince four of the five justices that their case is right."

The previous lawsuit focused on the Legislature's method of allocating state aid to schools, and the system's dependence on local property taxes. It did not argue that North Dakota's students were getting a substandard education.

The new legal challenge is likely to highlight the "adequacy" issue. A new study, financed by the Department of Public Instruction, concluded local schools need another $200 million in annual spending to teach each public school student what they need to learn.

More money for schools would allow them to provide a wider and more challenging range of coursework, and offer better salaries to their teachers, Swiontek said.

"It comes down to retaining and recruiting quality teachers," he said. "We have good teachers, but we're not going to be able to keep them, no matter if we've got the greatest fishing in the world in Devils Lake. I've got to be able to pay them."

The Legislature has made some attempts to mollify critics of North Dakota's school finance formula. Lawmakers agreed to raise overall school spending, and devote more money to aid payments for districts with relatively little property tax resources per student.

"We're working both on increasing funding for K-12 education, and improving equity," Gov. John Hoeven said. "We are committed to improvement. We have pushed very aggressively."

However, school officials say the changes have been inconsequential.

"They have had since 1994 to fix this," Swiontek said. "What has gotten done? It hasn't gotten done."