KENTUCKY COURT SAYS SCHOOLS VIOLATE CONSTITUTION

The state Supreme Court ruled last week that Kentucky's school system is unconstitutional because of the spending gap between rich and poor districts, and it ordered the legislature to develop a new setup. The ruling has no immediate effect on the state's 600,000 students; the court's 5-to-1 ruling gave the legislature until the end of its 1990 session to come up with a way to even out spending. The court said lawmakers must make local tax rates uniform.

Most states have similar setups in which state spending on education is supplemented by revenue raised locally through property taxes.