The Kansas Supreme Court says the state’s current public school funding levels are unconstitutional.

In Friday’s much-anticipated ruling, the court said Kansas’ poor school districts were harmed when the state made the decision to cut certain payments when tax revenues declined during the Great Recession.

The court also sent the case back for more review to determine what the adequate amount of funding should be.

The lawsuit was filed in 2010 on behalf of parents and school districts who argued the state had harmed students because spending cuts resulted in lower test scores.

State attorneys maintained that legislators did their best to minimize cuts to education.