BOISE -- A state judge has agreed to sever the state from a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Idaho's system for funding public schools.
Fourth District Judge Lynn Norton sided with state attorneys Wednesday in a case filed by former Nampa schools superintendent Russell Joki.
Joki filed the case last year against the state and dozens of school districts, alleging the activities fees charged to parents are unconstitutional.
The case was broadened in hopes that Norton would declare the state's method for paying for schools is still as unconstitutional as the Idaho Supreme Court found it to be in 2005.
In his decision, Norton cited a law that requires anyone filing a lawsuit over certain education issues must first to sue the local district.
The case against the districts will continue.
