Mercedes Schneider describes here a lawsuit filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center to block the public funding of charter schools.
SPLC cites the state constitution, which requires that all public funds go to public schools that are overseen by the local district and the state. Charter schools are overseen by neither.
Currently the state has three charter schools operating in Jackson, with another 14 set to open this fall. Eleven of the 14 will be in Jackson.
Mercedes provides an excerpt from the lawsuit:
Section 206 of the Mississippi Constitution provides that a school district’s ad valorem taxes may only be used for the district to maintain its own schools. Under the CSA, public school districts must share ad valorem revenue with charter schools that they do not control or supervise. Therefore, the local funding stream of the CSA is unconstitutional.
Section 208 of the Mississippi Constitution forbids the Legislature from appropriating money to any school that is not operating as a “free school.” A “free school” is not merely a school that charges no tuition; it must also be regulated by the State Superintendent of Education and the local school district superintendent. Charter schools– which are not under the control of the State Board of Education, the State Superintendent of Education, the Mississippi Department of Education, the local school district superintendent, or the local school district– are not “free schools.” Accordingly, the state funding provision of the CSA is unconstitutional. …
The CSA heralds a financial cataclysm for public school districts across the state. … The future is clear: as a direct result of the unconstitutional CSA funding provisions, traditional public schools will have fewer teachers, books, and educational resources.
The SPLC is right to point out the devastating financial impact that the funding of charters will have on public schools. This is a point that is always overlooked, ignored, or dismissed by corporate reformers. As long as they get what they want, they don’t care what happens to the majority of children.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I’ve wondered why this issue hasn’t been used in courts before. (Maybe it has?) How many other other states have similar language in their constitutions?
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Kudos to the SPLC for fighting for Mississippi’s poorest students. This state is already at the bottom of the educational funding ladder so they cannot afford to lose money. Let’s hope the billionaire cabal doesn’t step up to invent laws to take democratic public schools away from Mississippi’s citizens. We have seen this scenario play out in Washington state where Gates used his influence to circumvent the law despite the clear mandate in the state constitution.
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My husband and I contribute to the SPLC regularly. We will now send an extra and larger contribution to help them in this battle against charter schools.
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Maam,
When was the last time you were in a Jackson Public School classroom? Did you not read the State’s audit? JPS schools failed 22 of 32 benchmarks. Who to you think the SPLC is out for – the kids or the overpaid administrators who are trying to protect their jobs. If your child went to a JPS school, would you want them to have a choice? Do some research and wake up!
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Bill,
What if the “choice” is worse than the JPS school?
Have you read about Detroit’s failing charter schools?
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I crossposted Mercededs blog at http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/Mississippi-s-Charter-Scho-in-General_News-Corporate_Court-Challenge_Funding_Law-160717-320.html#comment607382
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uhhh….Hillary. What do you think about this?
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An important court case!
The nation’s implementation of Aspen Institute ideas for education, call for visibility, followed by studies of impact.
Solely as a point of information, the photo array of Aspen board members changed within the past few weeks, removing at least one controversial member’s photo.
Mercedes Schneider’s information, at the Deutsch 29 blog, showing ivy league professor praise, for testing everyday for some kids, and not others, like those in suburbs, makes it wise to take a renewed look at standards/curriculum/testing plans.
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Mississippi currently has two charter schools, both of which are in Jackson. One more opens in August. The fourteen school statistic is totally inaccurate.
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I wonder how this will play out. Do you guys think they will just rewrite the charter school law to make it fit what the constitution says, somehow circumventing the funding issue legally?
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Yes.
(after spending/wasting taxpayers monies unnecessarily trying to defend it in court)
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I thought we were going to be getting a change in direction from Hillary compared to Obama…..I do not fault her much for accepting the free ride when it comes to getting pinned down to actually say much of anything. I fault the people who do not press her for information about where she stands.
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“Currently the state has three charter schools operating in Jackson, with another 14 set to open this fall. Eleven of the 14 will be in Jackson.”
That is simply not true. One more is opening in Jackson. One. That means a grand total of three will operate in Jackson this year. Three does not equal fourteen although it might in the old new math, old math, or new new math.
There have been a few applications submitted to the state for approval but less than a handful have been approved. Going off of memory, it might be three. That is it.
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Kingfish, should be zero
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