HARRISBURG — Public school advocates sued top state officials Monday, alleging that an irrational system of distributing state subsidies is creating academic inequities and depriving many students of the “thorough and efficient” public education system guaranteed in the state constitution.

The lawsuit filed in Commonwealth Court says the state has established strict academic standards but failed to provide equal resources for students who must meet them. The plaintiffs contend that public spending per pupil ranges from less than $10,000 in districts with low property values and incomes to about $28,000 in those with higher property values and incomes.

The lawsuit asks the court to declare that the current funding formula violates the constitution and order state officials to devise a funding system that passes constitutional muster.

“Pennsylvania’s state constitution tells us that the buck stops with the state Legislature when it comes to public education,” said Jennifer R. Clarke, director of the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia.

Six school districts, seven parents, the Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools and the NAACP are the plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed by Clark’s organization and the Philadelphia-based Education Law Center. Defendants include the governor, the presiding officers of the state House and Senate and the state Department of Education.