OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma Education Association and three school districts filed a lawsuit Wednesday, claiming that the Legislature is violating the state constitution by underfunding schools.

In the suit filed in Oklahoma County District Court, the OEA and the Foyil, Western Heights and Jenks school districts claim the state’s schools are underfunded by $1 billion. The suit also claims it would take an additional $3 billion to meet the infrastructure requirements for state school buildings.

The education group wants a judge to declare the current system of funding education in Oklahoma to be inadequate and to order the Legislature to adequately fund the state’s schools. Oklahoma is one of 45 states in which lawsuits have been brought challenging state methods of funding schools, said Joe White Jr., an attorney for the OEA and the school systems.

“The Legislature has seen fit to add mandates on us and keeps cutting budgets,” White said. “When you do that you start affecting students, and that’s what this lawsuit is about.

“Students need an environment that’s conducive to learn in. They shouldn’t have to sit in a portable building with no air conditioning to study for an exam. They shouldn’t have to share desks or textbooks. Students shouldn’t have to fund-raise to pay for curricula. That’s not what a free education is all about and it’s not right.”

Two state legislators criticized the lawsuit and said it could lead to forced consolidation of rural schools. They cited a 2002 ruling by the Arkansas Supreme Court that said the state’s school-funding formula was unconstitutional. In the aftermath of that decision, 57 small school districts were consolidated with or annexed to other districts.

“When a similar lawsuit challenged Arkansas’ school funding system, rural counties paid the price,” said State Rep. Dale DeWitt, R-Braman. “Instead of improving schools, the state of Arkansas had to close them.”

Another rural legislator, Rep. Jeff Hickman, R-Dacoma, said the OEA “appears willing to sacrifice rural children for the benefit of a handful of large urban schools.”

White said the average annual per-pupil expenditure in Oklahoma is $6,269, which ranks 48th nationally. He said in 1990, about 39.5 percent of gross state expenditures went toward education. That percentage has dropped to 35.7 percent, he said.

“If that number had stayed consistent, the problems we’re litigating now wouldn’t be here,” White said.

Hickman said instead of a lawsuit, it would be a better idea to spend money earmarked for education more wisely.

“You look at the budget, and Oklahoma is not thought of as a wealthy state, and we’re spending ... 37 percent of our budget on common education,” Hickman said. “They’re already getting a very large portion of the state budget.”

White said there would be no need for a tax increase to increase education funding. Instead, he suggested the state needs to “reassess its priorities” and that some state agencies “may require rebudgeting and belt-tightening,” although he declined to be specific.

Hickman said a more realistic result, should the lawsuit succeed, would be that state money would be distributed to fewer schools. Oklahoma currently has 540 school districts.

“We know when we close school districts where we look,” Hickman said. “We don’t look in Oklahoma City or Tulsa or Norman or Lawton. We look in the rural areas.”

White said the lawsuit had nothing to do with consolidation.

“This lawsuit is centered on students and per-pupil expenditure,” he said. “It gets to a fundamental, basic issue — that an educated student has a much better chance of being a productive member of society and a good citizen.”

Another neighboring state, Kansas, is dealing with legal wrangling over education funding.

The Kansas Supreme Court ruled last year the Kansas Legislature failed to adequately fund public schools and forced lawmakers into a special session to come up with more money.