This study analyzed the degree to which state education funding systems supported social justice for the 1998-99 school year, where social justice was operationalized using the theory of vertical equity and research-based factors that placed students at risk of academic failure. The results of the study combined content analysis and statistical analysis to paint a complex picture of how and to what extent states provided additional resources for at-risk students. Multivariate statistical analysis was used to estimate the impact of the incidence of at-risk students on total state education funding, and although their presence in general had a statistically significant impact, not all risk factors were statistically significant. A startling finding was that as the incidence of some risk factors increased, states reduced--rather than increased--their funding efforts. (Contains 4 tables and 68 footnotes.)