ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's highest court has upheld a Fulton County court ruling that bars Atlanta Public Schools from using tax dollars to pay for its pension obligations before distributing a share of the money to local charter schools.

The unanimous ruling announced today by the Supreme Court of Georgia means the Atlanta school system can't deduct millions of dollars from its revenue to pay for its expenses before distributing the money to startup charter schools.

The justices decided that state law is clear regarding how the money is to be distributed to the schools.

In May 2012, Atlanta Public Schools announced that it planned to subtract $38.6 million to pay pension liability expenses before distributing money to its traditional and charter schools. In August, eight charter schools sued, leading to the Supreme Court ruling.