In a court case in Mississippi, a parent group is seeking to prevent the state from disbursing public funds to private schools. The parents rely on a clause in the state constitution that explicitly bars public funding of private schools.
The story was reported by the Mississippi Free Press. SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM!
Schoolchildren could be heard playing less than a block away from the Mississippi Supreme Court building as attorneys argued over whether federal public funds should be awarded to the state’s private schools on Tuesday.
Rob McDuff, a Mississippi Center for Justice attorney representing the pro-public education nonprofit organization Parents For Public Schools, called a prohibition in the state’s constitution on funding for private schools “an ironclad principle” that “doesn’t have exceptions” during oral arguments.
Mississippi Supreme Court justices Leslie King, Robert Chamberlain and David Ishee also heard arguments from attorneys representing the Mid-South Association of Independent Schools and the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office defending the use of COVID-19 relief funds for private schools..
Parents for Public Schools filed the initial lawsuit in June 2022 after state lawmakers passed bills appropriating $10 million to help MAIS member schools pay for broadband, water and infrastructure projects. One bill Gov. Tate Reeves signed into law created the Independent Schools Infrastructure Grant Program. The other allocated American Rescue Plan funds for the program. The Legislature had set the grant to go into effect on July 1, 2022.
The pro-public education organization’s lawyers argued that awarding the funds to private schools violates Section 208 of the Mississippi Constitution and would give private schools a competitive advantage. That section of the Constitution says that “no religious or other sect or sects shall ever control any part of the school or other educational funds of this state; nor shall any funds be appropriated toward the support of any sectarian school, or to any school that at the time of receiving such appropriation is not conducted as a free school.”
“This is a case about a lot more than 10 million dollars,” Will Bardwell, an attorney from Democracy Forward, who also argued on behalf of Parents for Public Schools, told media after the Feb. 6 hearing. “This is a case about part of the Mississippi Constitution that reserves all of the state’s education funding for public schools. If we’re going to make exceptions to that for a 10 million dollar appropriation, then we can make exceptions about that for a 100 million dollar appropriation or a 500 million dollar appropriation. This is a simple case and it’s about a lot more than 10 million dollars.”
Please open the link to finish the story.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The parents rely on a clause in the state constitution…
Past practice shows, WHAT
the wording means and
HOW the wording is applied,
is a function of those in charge.
The interpretations of
“We the People”, may play
well with the, consent of the
governed illusion, but the results
prove otherwise.
When did a “Simon-Sez” constitution,
free the people from the public serpents?
When my kids were young, we had a family meal most every evening. As chief cook, I tried to be sure there was always something to everyone’s liking on the menu. Inevitably, some child would now or then declare “I hate this! I’m not going to eat it!” even though it had been the favorite dish the last time it was served. The answer was fine – there’s Cheerios in the kitchen, or you can make a peanut butter sandwich. I did not hand over a credit card to pay for takeout and delivery.
What public schools try to serve is a menu that is nutritious and appealing to all. If some don’t like that menu, it’s on them. They can have Cheerios or a peanut butter sandwich. Don’t hand over the public’s credit card.
This morning, criticism of Boston’s mayor Michelle Wu was printed in the Commonwealth Beacon, a publication funded by privatizer adjacent parties. More than 50% of Boston’s real estate is held by non-profits (museums, universities, hospitals) who are exempted from the property taxes the rest of us pay. There’s an agreement called payment in lieu of taxes – PILOT – that is more often breached that complied with. At her January State of the City speech, Mayor Wu announced that a consortium of museums would offer free admission on some Sundays to students and families of Boston Public Schools. Seems to me it’s the mayor’s way of nudging these institutions to do their little bit.
So what’s the criticism? Students from charters and private schools (who may not be Boston residents) aren’t included. Well, the mayor has no control over the management of those schools. Let them go to the boards of the museums and work out their own deal.
Here’s the video at the State of the City address of the mayor explaining why museums matter for kids and families, beginning at 1:04. Earlier, at 56:00, she talks about BPS. I haven’t heard a mayor talk about our schools this way in 40 years. Needless to say on this blog, there are plenty of people looking to raise hurdles in her path.
I hope this is a sign of parent pushback in other states as well. It will take families, that are tired of watching their public institutions plundered as states transfer public funds into private entities, challenge actions that violate state constitutions. People in red states need to organize to defend their public schools, Otherwise, complicit politicians will continue to do the bidding of the wealthy. In Florida the state legislature just introduced a bill to eliminate property taxes which would hobble and likely dismantle public education.
The domination of religious faith beliefs will continue to hold this country back for as long as those who hold said beliefs do so.
Agreed
If the surveys of younger people are any indication, it will not be long. The fastest growth among the young is the population of those who do not accept religion. Churches look like AARP meetings. Mainstream churches are increasingly places of bare pews.
Immediately, one of the reasons is the post-Falwell Involvement of religion in politics. Tragically, however, the young are not interested in political ideas very much either.
In Flor-uh-duh, the megachurches are packed to overflowing. In Europe, the grand old cathedrals are practically empty on Sundays.