As Florida school districts struggle with sinking finances, the Southern Legal Counsel quietly is sending out feelers to see if there's stomach out there for a lawsuit to challenge the way the state supports public education.

"We're in the investigation stages," executive director Jodi Siegel told the Gradebook. "We're talking to people about the inadequacy in education and what to do about it."

She referred in part to the state's falling behind local school boards in the amount of money provided to the system for the first time since anyone can remember. But "it's not just the funding," Siegel said. "The entire system is not adequate. We are investigating ways to challenge it."

Florida School Boards Association executive director Wayne Blanton told the Gradebook that he and other FSBA leaders met with the SLC recently to talk about the situation. The group has not committed to anything, Blanton said, but it's interested.

"That's a lawsuit ready to happen," he said.

Of course, we've been hearing that for a while now. And Siegel cautions that there's nothing solid happening. So we'll just keep watching and let you know what, if anything, develops.