The Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed willing to put more bite into a law that requires public schools to help learning-disabled students.

Most of the justices indicated during arguments that school districts must offer more than the bare minimum of services to children with special needs. But they struggled over how to clarify the law without inviting even more litigation between frustrated parents and cash-strapped schools.

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The family’s attorney, Jeffrey Fisher, argued that the law requires more than “just-above-trivial” benefits. Most of the justices seemed to agree and spent much of the session trying out different words that would convey the right message to lower courts.

Fisher urged the justices to make clear it requires benefits designed “to provide substantially equal educational opportunities.”

But Breyer and Justice Elena Kagan said they had problems with the word “equal” since the law focuses on what’s best for individual students. Fisher then suggested schools at least had to offer the kind of support that allows a disabled child to progress from grade to grade.