(AP) — A federal judge has declined to dismiss a northeast Kansas lawsuit challenging the state’s cap on how much money residents in a school district can raise through taxes.

U.S. District Judge John Lungstrum ruled Tuesday the plaintiffs can continue pursuing claims that the cap violated their constitutional rights of equal protection.

The plaintiffs are parents in Johnson County’s Shawnee Mission School District. They allege the Legislature acted without a rational basis in the way it altered the state’s funding formula.

As part of the formula, districts are restricted in how much money they can raise beyond what the state provides so wealthy school systems won’t have an unfair advantage.

But Lungstrum rejected the parents’ claim that the cap impairs their due process rights to fund and support education.