The state's highest court has agreed to take up Attorney General George Jepsen's appeal of a Superior Court judge's decision ordering lawmakers to fix Connecticut's formula for school funding within six months.

Chief Justice Chase T. Rogers has granted Jepsen's application for certification to appeal in Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding v. Rell. 

Paul S. Hartan, chief clerk of the Supreme Court, notified Jepsen's office Tuesday that the chief justice also has granted the plaintiff's request to review issues that were decided adversely to its side.

The lawsuit focused on educational deficiencies in six school districts, including New London, where the coalition alleged that children were not being adequately educated.

The other districts were Bridgeport, East Hartford, Danbury, New Britain and Windham.

"We are pleased that the chief justice has agreed that this case requires prompt and full review by our Supreme Court," Jepsen spokeswoman Jaclyn Falkowski said. "We look forward to a fair and definitive resolution of the important issues presented by this case."

Jepsen had moved quickly to appeal Superior Court Judge Thomas G. Moukawsher's Sept. 7 decision, saying the court did not have authority to oversee how school funding is distributed and to suggest modification of policies governing teacher evaluations and funding of special education.

He said that the decisions, as they stand, would wrest educational policy away from the appropriate branches of government into the hands "of a single, unelected judge."

The appeal, which was not unexpected, will delay action on the school funding case, which was first filed in 2005.

Moukawsher had issued his 90-page decision from the bench after hearing months of testimony in Hartford Superior Court. 

The Supreme Court had taken up the case once before, in 2008, issuing a 4-3 ruling that reversed the lower court decision to dismiss most of CCJEF's claims.

The court wrote in that opinion that the state Constitution requires "public schools provide their students with an education suitable to give them the opportunity to be responsible citizens able to participate fully in democratic institutions, such as jury service and voting, and to prepare them to progress to institutions of higher education, or to attain productive employment and otherwise to contribute to the state's economy."

The Supreme Court does not listen to direct testimony from witnesses, but instead hears the arguments of lawyers for each side who have filed written briefs beforehand on specific issues of law.

The court often gives the parties time to file post-argument briefs and issues a decision within a few months. 

k.florin@theday.com