Adequacy is a key issue propelled by high court decisions across the states. Initially the equity of funding systems that resulted in "savage inequalities" between school districts within a state based on property wealth was at issue. However, just since 1989, with the state supreme court decision in Kentucky finding the system unconstitutional and inadequate, more than two dozen state supreme court decisions have been issued on the constitutionality of the education system, the education finance system, or both. Most recent high court decisions have favored plaintiffs, and few have been decided on behalf of defendants. According to some scholars, the trend toward plaintiff victories represents a movement to secure, in policy and the law, the benefits of an equal educational opportunity on behalf of poor children and youths. A key issue is the funding level necessary to support an adequate and equitable state education system. This has been the subject of a new generation of finance studies on the cost of an adequate education that have been conducted in about 37 states. This article provides a tale of two states where adequacy studies have been conducted and details the backgrounds, methods, and outcomes of those studies. In the southeastern state, the research was undertaken for the legislature, whereas in the northeastern state it was performed for the judiciary. However, in both states a six-step methodological framework was used. (Contains 1 figure, 4 tables and 76 footnotes.)