WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the constitutionality of the state’s charter school funding structure, confirming that charter school students should receive the same state and local education funding as traditional district school students.
In 2018 the trial court upheld the constitutionality of charter school funding in Mississippi, allowing state and local funding to follow the student to the charter school of their choice. The trial court firmly established that when local tax dollars flow to charter schools, “local tax dollars [are benefiting] local students”; yesterday, the Mississippi Supreme Court agreed.
National Alliance President and CEO Nina Rees released the following statement:
“We are excited to see that the Supreme Court of Mississippi is championing what states leading in education continue to fight for: equitable funding across all models of public schools. All charter schools are public schools, and charter school students deserve the public-school resources provided to them under the law.”
According to a survey from March 2017, although charter schools are relatively new in Mississippi, when given basic background information, 55 percent of Mississippi respondents supported having charter schools in the state. In addition, 59 percent of respondents believed that charter schools would affect education positively in their communities.
The National Charter School Legal Action Fund has supported this case since its inception and applauds charter school parents, the Mississippi Charter Schools Association and Midtown Public Charter School for intervening in this case and valiantly fighting to protect parent choice – especially for those students and families without local high-quality school options.
