TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A judge Friday dismissed a lawsuit filed by five of Florida's larger school boards over a change in the way the state divvies up the education budget.

Five Florida school boards that lost funding challenged the Legislature's formula in the courts. Under the change, 27 of the state's 67 districts get less money than they would have under the old formula.

The biggest loser was Miami-Dade, which filed the lawsuit last July and was later joined by Broward, Palm Beach, Monroe and Volusia counties. Together, the five counties have lost more than $250 million that they would have received had the formula not changed.

Under the plan that passed the Legislature in 2004, Duval got the largest funding increase -- about $8.85 million. Clay County received $1.35 million additional money, Nassau got approximately $485,000 and St. Johns saw an extra $68,000.

State lawmakers hammered out changes to the formula in the final days of the 2004 legislative session; the issue was one of the last hurdles to a deal on the entire budget.

At the center of the dispute is an index designed to send more money to districts where the cost of living is higher. The new formula gives less weight to housing prices and the cost of buying necessities. And it adds in wages, which were not included before.

The lawsuit argued that the new formula was "arbitrary, capricious, non-uniform and discriminatory."

But Friday afternoon, after listening to testimony and arguments for 2½ days, Circuit Judge P. Kevin Davey agreed with defense attorneys that the five counties hadn't made their case. He dismissed the lawsuit.

Jacksonville attorney W.C. Gentry represented the state Senate and the eight other districts.

"The court found that the Legislature and the Department of Education complied with their obligation to appropriate funding on an equitable and uniform basis for all the children of Florida," Gentry said.

Tallahassee attorney Jack McLean, representing the five school districts, said the school boards had not yet decided whether to appeal.

"We just respectfully think the judge is not correct," McLean said.