AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — An extra $3.4-plus billion in funding is a mere Band-Aid that leaves classrooms still hurting and hasn't fixed fundamental flaws in the balance for students in rich and poor parts of Texas, attorneys representing 600-plus school districts across the state argued Friday.

Closing arguments before state District Judge John Dietz wrapped up a sweeping case that began in October 2012 and put school finance in Texas on trial. But a final ruling isn't expected until next month.

Dietz declared in February 2013 that $5.4 billion in cuts to public schools imposed by the Legislature two years earlier violated the Texas Constitution's guarantees of a "general diffusion of knowledge" with an "efficient system of public free schools." He also ruled that the "Robin Hood" system, where districts in wealthy areas share a portion of the local property taxes they collect with those in poorer areas, meant funding was unfairly distributed.

However, last summer, lawmakers restored more than $3.4 billion in classroom funding and cut the number of standardized tests high students must pass from 15 to five — easing tough graduation standards that school districts argued they no longer had the resources to prepare students to meet.

Dietz reopened the case last month to hear evidence on how the funding increase and testing shake-up would affect his initial ruling. He will issue a final ruling after mid-March.

Richard Gray, a lawyer for the Equity Center, which represents about 400 school districts, many of them in poor areas of Texas, said "all the Legislature did was appropriate money into the system and, unfortunately, it did not even appropriate as much money as it stripped."

"The Legislature, for whatever reason, has faced this issue time and time again," Gray said. "They have put a Band-Aid on a Band-Aid on a Band-Aid."

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's office has defended the system as constitutional, though Abbott himself is running for governor and hasn't argued the case.

Lisa Dawn-Fisher, deputy associate commissioner for school finance at the Texas Education Agency, testified that average per-student funding has increased this school year and that gaps between school districts in wealthy and poor areas has actually declined since 2006.

The plaintiffs counter that funding has declined overall, even though Texas' population has boomed and the number of low-income students has skyrocketed. Students from poor families generally cost more to educate because many require instruction to learn English or participate in remedial programs outside the classroom.

The school districts that filed suit are responsible for educating around three-quarters of Texas' 5 million-plus public school students.

Schools in rich and poor parts of the state are on the same side in the case because those in economically disadvantaged areas say "Robin Hood" shortchanges them while wealthier districts note local voters that would otherwise support property tax increases fail to do so since they know much of the revenue raised will be sent to schools elsewhere.

Legal battles over school finance have been raging for decades: This case is the sixth of its kind since 1984. If the state Supreme Court ultimately declares the system unconstitutional, it will be up to the Legislature to devise a new funding plan.