Both sides in South Carolina’s school funding lawsuit asked Circuit Judge Thomas W. Cooper Jr. on Monday to reconsider parts of his Dec. 29 ruling in the case.

Amid the pages of pleas to reconsider, the state and the plaintiff school districts battled over whether the state is constitutionally required to attempt to overcome the role poverty plays in the different outcomes across its public education system.

“ ... This standard is higher than and inconsistent with the ‘opportunity to acquire a minimally adequate education’” in an earlier finding in the long-running school funding trial, the state’s lawyers wrote.

“Tradition is not, and should not be, the standard by which we judge constitutionality,” the plaintiffs’ argument said, citing the 1960s desegregation movement that conquered earlier “traditions.”

Judge Cooper’s ruling in December found the state isn’t doing enough to educate its poorest children, especially preschoolers — the lone victory for the plaintiff school districts in the multifaceted case.

The school districts appealed other points in Cooper’s ruling, while defending his poverty finding.

In the state’s favor, Cooper ruled that public school buildings are safe and adequate and that the state employs a system for appropriate learning goals and teacher credentials.

“I don’t really think he’s going to change anything,” said Bobby Stepp, the state’s attorney. “He heard all this evidence, and he took a long time to issue his order, and I doubt seriously he is going to be persuaded at this point that he made a mistake, but who knows?”

Both Stepp and the school districts’ attorney, Carl Epps, said their motions position them to formally appeal Cooper’s decision to another court later. Neither said his clients plan to formally appeal, but neither would rule it out.

“We still want to wait and see what the General Assembly does, but we’re deeply troubled,” Epps said.

The state House of Representatives’ budget proposes $6 million in new spending on early childhood programs — far less than some of the more expansive proposals, which could cost more than $100 million.

A House education subcommittee began gathering input Monday on the House’s proposal for expanding kindergarten instruction this year to 4-year-olds in the eight plaintiff districts whose families qualify for government assistance to buy meals or receive medical care.

The Senate is considering early childhood education proposals.

The General Assembly’s early childhood efforts don’t impress his clients so far, Epps said.

“There’s been no serious discussion about a comprehensive program of early childhood intervention,” Epps said. “ ... They have not, in our view, given Judge Cooper’s order the scrutiny it deserves, nor made any effort to comply with it.”

He called the House’s $6 million plan “skimpy.”

House Education Committee chairman Ronnie Townsend, R-Anderson, said lawmakers this year are continuing their longstanding attention to improving early childhood education and said current considerations are not a reaction to Cooper’s ruling.

“The ruling in the equity lawsuit showed us that there was a need to do more about early childhood, and, of course, that’s not something new for the state,” Townsend said.

Stepp said his clients are willing to live with Cooper’s ruling, despite asking him to amend his decision.

“We want to return education policy to the State House, instead of the courtroom.”

No timetable has been set for Cooper’s response.

Staff writer Bill Robinson contributed. Reach Michals at (803) 771-8532.