ATLANTA --- A lack of evidence should prompt a judge to throw out a lawsuit saying Georgia officials don't spend enough to help local schools, attorneys for the state said during a hearing that marked a preview of the upcoming trial.

The hearing technically concerned a legal maneuver to have the case dismissed because, the state says, the 50 districts behind the lawsuit can't prove that more spending would increase student achievement.

Roughly a third of Georgia's school systems have joined the lawsuit to require the state spend enough to provide the "adequate education" that the state constitution specifies.

State officials have fought the suit for three years, contending taxpayers already spend enough to meet the goal.

The group of districts suing the state, the Consortium for Adequate School Funding in Georgia, includes McDuffie County.

Lawyers for the state said the districts simply don't have enough evidence to prove that the state has failed to meet its constitutional duty to educate students.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Long did not say when she would rule on the state's motion.