Local education leaders say the state should address the funding issues crippling many rural S.C. school districts but say the fix should not be at the expense of wealthier districts.

"No one wants to have ... a plan in place using the Robin Hood approach of taking from the haves and giving to the have-nots," said Gerrita Postlewait, superintendent of Horry County Schools, the third-wealthiest district in the state.

Georgetown County School District Superintendent Chuck Gadsden agreed with Postlewait's assessment and said the General Assembly should come up with a better system.

Educators statewide are watching the Manning trial of eight of the state's most impoverished school districts, which are suing the state for not giving them enough funds to provide an adequate education.

The trial began Monday and is expected to continue through September.

The districts claim they do not receive sufficient support from the local tax base or the state to provide an adequate education.

Marion County District 7, which shares borders with both Horry and Georgetown counties, is a plaintiff, along with Allendale, Dillon 2, Florence 4, Hampton 2, Jasper, Lee and Orangeburg 3.

The courts could force the state to give more money to these districts or others statewide. The case also could lead to legislation changing the way S.C. districts are funded.

Local districts worry that it could lead to the siphoning of funds from wealthier to impoverished school districts.

Already, Horry County is considered a donor district in which taxpayers give more to the state than is returned in the form of state education funds.

Horry County, for example, generated about $220 million in sales tax revenue for South Carolina in 2002. In the 2001-02 school year, the district received about $91.6 million in state funds.

But many understand the need to assist other districts.

"I think our goal should be that every child has the resources necessary for an education," Horry County Board of Education member Paul Peterson said.

At the same time, educators say a lack of state money has forced the district to turn to local property taxes to meet the education needs of a growing population of Horry County schoolchildren.

The district has raised taxes three times in the past four years.

But impoverished districts are unable to turn to taxpayers for the same support - a handicap that, coupled with inadequate state funds, can lead to districts with under-qualified teachers and lower achievement levels.

Postlewait said she is concerned the lawsuit will lead to a drain of more dollars from the district, but that fear should not scare people from "standing up and saying the system isn't fair."

"I'm optimistic there's a way to find a more fair funding formula without hurting anyone and overburdening the taxpayers," she said.

Dozens of similar suits have sprouted in other states in the past three decades.

At the center is the long practice of using local property taxes to fund education. This leads to disparities among districts.

But inequities also can occur within a school district.

Gadsden said he sees disparities in Georgetown County between schools in wealthier areas, where parents and community members can afford to give greater support than in more rural parts of the county.

Regardless of the outcome, the case is likely to be appealed, which would prolong a process many say takes too long.

The S.C. suit began in 1993.

"They're jokingly called full-time employment suits for lawyers because they go so long," said John Dornan, executive director of the Public School Forum of North Carolina, where a similar case is under appeal.

The child at the center of the case was in grade school when it began and has now graduated from college, Dornan said.