Mississippi sued over charter school funding
The Southern Poverty Law Center is suing Mississippi over how it is funding charter schools, describing it as a unconstitutional scheme that diverts public tax dollars from traditional public schools.
The lawsuit filed Monday in Hinds County Chancery Court calls for the court to strike down the funding provisions of the Mississippi Charter School Act. The Mississippi Constitution requires schools to be under the supervision of the state and local boards of education to receive public funding. But under the act, charter schools receive public funding even though they are exempt from the oversight of the state Board of Education, the Mississippi Department of Education and local boards of education.
Republican Gov. Phil Bryant called the lawsuit a frivolous attempt by "Democrats and their allies" to usurp decisions made by the GOP-majority Legislature.
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Charter schools in Mississippi are accountable to the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board, a body that receives 3 percent of the public funding that goes to charter schools.
“A school operating outside the authority of the state board of education and the local school board cannot expect to receive public taxpayer money,” Jody Owens, managing attorney for the SPLC’s Mississippi office, said in a news release. “The state constitution is clear on this matter.”
Two charter schools are operating in Mississippi, both within the boundaries of the Jackson Public School District. In one school year, more than $1.85 million was diverted from the district to fund them. That amount could have paid the salaries of 42 public school teachers, according to the complaint. Given that a third charter school is set to open within JPS’s geographic boundaries, the district stands to lose more than $4 million in the 2016-17 school year, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit warns that the opening of more charter schools will compound the financial harm. There are applications pending for four more charter schools. Each charter school would be located within the Jackson Public School District, drawing more funding from the district.
“I sent my children to a public school because I believe in traditional public schools,”Cassandra Overton-Welchlin, a plaintiff in the case and mother of two children enrolled there, said in the news release. “I’m outraged that state and local tax dollars are funding charter schools in a way that threatens the existence of important services, including services for those with special needs, at my child’s school. As a taxpayer, I expect my property tax dollars will be used to support traditional public schools, which educate the vast majority of students in Jackson.”
"We are currently reviewing the lawsuit and, as with all cases, we will respond in court at the appropriate time," said Rachael Ring, spokeswoman for Attorney General Jim Hood.
Mississippi First, a group that advocates charter schools, said in a statement Tuesday that the lawsuit creates uncertainty for nearly 500 students and their parents about whether charter schools will open on time in August. The group said the suit does not question the quality of education in charter schools.
"SPLC's lawsuit is based on a belief that public charter school students — real public school children from some of the most underserved communities in the city of Jackson — do not deserve the public dollars raised in their own communities to support their education. ... The parents who chose to send their children to a public charter school did so because their children were not thriving in the traditional system," the Mississippi First statement said.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.