HOT OFF THE PRESS--Statehouse reporters scramble to snag a copy of the - still warm - latest school-funding Supreme Court decision, at the Rhodes Tower, in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday, Sept. 6, 2001. In an unusual decision the court, which twice ruled that the state's method of funding public schools was unconstitutional, ruled that they would terminate their role in the dispute. (Photoj.com/Jack Kustron)

PERPLEXED--William Phillis, Executive Director of the Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding, exits the Rhodes Tower after picking up the latest Supreme Court school-funding decision, in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday, Sept. 6, 2001. After twice ruling in favor of Phillis' group, the court, in a 4-3 decision, ruled that even though more money was needed to meet constitutional muster, they were terminating their role in the dispute. When asked for one word to describe how he felt about the court's decision, Phillis replied "perplexed." (Photoj.com/Jack Kustron)

THE TERMINATOR--Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Moyer, seen in this file photo, wrote the majority opinion in the DeRolph v. Ohio , school-funding case, issued on Thursday, Sept. 6, 2001. Moyer wrote for the 4-3 majority that "We have concluded that no one is served by continued uncertainty and fractious debate. In that spirit, we have created the consensus that should terminate the role of this court in the dispute". The court had twice ruled that the state's method of funding public schools was unconstitutional. (Photoj.com/Jack Kustron)

NOT A HAPPY JUSTICE--Supreme Court Justice Alice Robie Resnick, seen in this file photo, was one of three who dissented in the latest 4-3, DeRolph v. Ohio school-funding decision, that was released on Thursday, Sept. 6, 2001, in Columbus, Ohio. Resnick's seventy-four page dissent began with "In its Machiavellian maneuver to halt this litigation, the majority gives its seal of approval to a system of public education that, even with the judicially legislated adjustments of the majority, falls well short of the system required by the Ohio Constitution". (Photoj.com/Jack Kustron)