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Has Florida’s legislature lived up to the constitutional requirement to fund a high quality free system of public education? That’s the question that will play out over the next five weeks in a Tallahassee courtroom. A suit brought by a public advocacy group says Florida per pupil spending ranks among the lowest in the nation. Lead attorney Neil Chonin told the judge Florida schools are not living up to the constitutional requirement to  be high quality.

“The reforms put in place by them were put in place in 1998. we’re in 2015. And thirty eight percent of African American students in the state of Florida did not pass reading.”

But Attorneys from the State Attorney General’s office pointed out on opening day that school funding was strong, even during the great recession,

“The state of Florida has not only established  a high quality system of public schools and allows students to obtain a high quality education, but that the state has become a leader among states successfully implementing  education reform, that over time has lead to substantial improvements in student performance.”

Former LT. Governor and Education Commission Frank Brogan, who is now the Chancellor of the Pennsylvania College system is one of the experts expected to testify.