The state Supreme Court has failed Idaho’s children by washing its hands of a long-running lawsuit to fix school buildings.

After 16 years of briefs, counterbriefs and foot-dragging by the state of Idaho, the Supreme Court has closed the case and decided to rely on legislators to rectify the problem of unsafe or inadequate school buildings.

Apparently, the justices haven’t paid attention to the legal maneuvering by lawmakers to ignore or sidestep every adverse court decision they’ve faced in this 1990 case. This includes the decision last December in which the Supreme Court declared the school funding system unconstitutional.

“There is now clearly a final judgment,” Justice Linda Copple Trout told attorneys for the state and school districts.

Only there isn’t, because the court has punted a remedy back to lawmakers.

One thing is clear: The justices have jettisoned common sense if they believe Republican Idaho legislators will act properly to fix deteriorating school buildings without a legal sword hanging over their heads. The legislators have brushed aside a 1992 survey that showed hundreds of millions of dollars in school repairs and building construction were needed to provide every child with a safe learning environment. They have tried to turn the tables on the plaintiff districts by suing them after a lower court declared the funding system illegal. They have shown no inclination to solve the problem. They shouldn’t be trusted to do so now.

The justices need look no further than the 2006 Legislature to see how lawmakers continue to deal with this issue in poor faith.

Indeed, the Legislature set aside $25 million to help districts fix or replace unsafe schoolhouses. But not without a catch or two. For a school district to qualify for the money, the state must be allowed to take it over, appoint a supervisor who could fire the local superintendent and impose a no-vote property tax increase on local voters after they had twice rejected it in order to pay back the loan. The measure also required districts to spend more on building maintenance.

Not surprisingly, districts haven’t lined up to seek money from the new program.

Also, the recent Legislature disregarded suggestions from the Supreme Court on how to address the issue of unsafe schools. These included lowering the state’s two-thirds supermajority requirement for passing school bonds and paying for school buildings from the general fund. In choosing to ignore the court recommendations, the predominantly Republican Legislature has remained consistent with its rear-guard action throughout the case. By apparently allowing the Legislature to thumb its nose at the law, the Supreme Court has shown that it’s as much a patsy for Republican lawmakers as the lower courts.

Idaho’s justices have one last opportunity to bend Republican legislative leaders to their will.

In a related case, the state and school districts have argued whether the state is obligated to pay fees for a “special remedial master” to look into school funding issues. Justice Trout told this newspaper that the pending decision should “provide further clarification” on the earlier decision. Don’t hold your breath.

Apparently, the Supreme Court has shirked its duty to Idaho’s schoolchildren as much as the Legislature has.