The state continues to deny students in struggling rural schools the education they are guaranteed under the Alaska Constitution. That was the ruling from Superior Court Judge Sharon Gleason this week in the ongoing education lawsuit Moore vs. State of Alaska.

Gleason is giving the state one more chance, 60 days, to comply.

Among Gleason's findings in her 58-page ruling: The state needs to provide pre-kindergarten education in schools turning out under-performing students. Some children entering elementary school in rural areas are two or three years behind in their language development compared with Anchorage kindergartners, according to expert testimony in the case.

In the Yupiit School District, identified by the state as one in trouble, 75 percent of entering kindergartners lack beginning reading or writing skills, according to testimony by the district's assistant superintendent, Diane George.

Education experts say there is a strong link between early literacy and later academic achievement. Former Alaska education commissioner Roger Sampson has testified in the case that if a student's reading skills are lacking by third grade, the student's chances of catching up are slim and he is a high risk to later drop out.

Alaska has one of the worst dropout rates in the country.

For years, the state Education Department has had a hands-off approach to intervening in the state's 50 some districts. Except for the statewide standards-based tests and the high school exit exam, the state has chosen to let local districts handle everything from who gets hired to teach to what the students are taught.

The state testified in the case's 2008 hearings that problems in the schools often stem from troubles within the communities. Gleason said that's not acceptable. "Conditions within a community do not diminish the State's constitutional duty," she wrote.

Gleason wants to see the state get its hands into the management of the badly performing schools, whether that's through the hiring of better teachers, better training for teachers, reviewing curriculum, or other research-based proven means to better education.

Alaska's lowest performing school districts, as defined by factors such as poor test scores year after year, are: the Yupiit School District, the Lower Yukon School District, the Yukon Flats School District, the Yukon Koyukuk School District and the Northwest Arctic Borough School District. But the implications of the lawsuit could affect every school in the state.

Education deputy commissioner Les Morse said Friday that the state is still reviewing the decision but believes "we have good evidence of the strength of our programs."

Gleason ruled more than a year ago that the state wasn't doing enough to intervene in chronically under-performing school districts and gave the state a year to comply. This latest ruling is in response to the state's year to prove itself.

In 60 days, Gleason can order the department to take specific actions, but those actions would need to be funded by the Legislature and carried out by the Education Department.

Gov. Sarah Palin and the Education Department are currently asking the Legislature to spend $2.8 million extra on preschool programs.