ALLENTOWN (TNS) — Pennsylvania’s public education system went on trial Friday.

Six school districts are teaming with several parents and a few advocacy groups to try to prove the state is not providing the “thorough and efficient” system of education required by the state Constitution.

Their goal is to increase the amount of state funding, and to distribute it equitably.

If successful, the lawsuit could allow struggling school districts such as Allentown to finally get the resources they need. The burden on local taxpayers also could be lessened.

During the trial, anticipated to last about two months, there will be great debate about test scores, per pupil spending, poverty rates, budget allocations and other figures.

I hope the judge and anyone who follows the trial don’t get lost in the numbers.

Oh, the numbers are important. But this lawsuit isn’t about numbers. It’s about people.

The case is about elementary students in Johnstown who receive reading instruction — in what used to be a supply room.

They cram in. There are no windows, only cinderblock walls. There’s a carpet, but only because the teacher brought one from home.

The case is about teachers such as Tara Yuricheck in the Panther Valley School District in Schuylkill and Carbon counties, one of those that is suing.

Yuricheck teaches fifth-grade history — from a textbook last updated in 1997.

The last president it includes is Bill Clinton. She spends her own time and money pulling together supplemental materials to keep her class current.

Those hardships were cited Friday by attorney Katrina Robson, representing the plaintiffs, in the trial’s opening statements.

Robson told Commonwealth Court Judge Renée Cohn Jubelirer there is “a systemic widespread failure” that is devastating the lives of children, teachers and communities.

She said the state Legislature has known for years that schools are egregiously underfunded, by as much as $4.6 billion collectively, yet has not solved the problem.

The defendants are the governor, legislative leaders, the Department of Education and state education officials.

Patrick Northen, attorney for House Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, said in his opening statement Friday the case isn’t about whether the education system is perfect. It’s about whether the system is constitutionally deficient — it isn’t.

}“It’s actually quite a good system. There’s really a lot to be proud of,” he said.

Northen said the state Constitution does not specify that a “thorough and efficient” education system must be uniform. He said the system was designed to allow local school officials to have a say in how their districts are run. Some choose to offer more than others.

Only because their tax base can afford to. A mill of taxes in a more wealthy district such as Parkland yields a lot more than a mill of taxes in a district such as Allentown.

That leaves some districts behind. And when parents see their kids aren’t getting the same opportunities offered in other districts with more money, they flee to charter schools. That costs districts such as Allentown even more money, further reducing what they can offer.

Schools cannot be constitutionally required to overcome every societal ill or personal disadvantage that students bring to school with them, Northen told the judge Friday.

“School achievement can be influenced by many factors that are outside the control of the public school system, things like parental involvement, good nutrition and good health care, adequate housing, a safe environment and of course factors unique to the individual student, such as his or her own natural intelligence, work ethic and interest in school.”

Maybe they can’t be required to solve those problems. But they can’t ignore them.

Students with troubles may need help catching up. Schools have to try to help. That takes money, money that school districts such as Allentown don’t have.

Northen said the Legislature has increased public education funding by $2 billion since the lawsuit was filed seven years ago: “The narrative that Pennsylvania drastically underfunds education is simply not accurate.”

There always will be some students who perform better than others, he said, regardless of how much money is spent.

He said the focus shouldn’t be on outcomes, such as test scores, but on the opportunities that are provided.

Again, providing opportunities requires money.

Allentown’s Harrison-Morton Middle School was built in 1874, when Ulysses S. Grant was president. It doesn’t have air conditioning, let alone the latest technology.

And you can’t properly teach history with a textbook that ends with Bill Clinton as president.

(Paul Muschick is a columnist for The Morning Call of Allentown.)