By Christopher Young,
Contributing Writer,
During the 2022 legislative session bills passed to create and fund an Independent Schools Infrastructure Grant Program designed to allow federal American Rescue Plan funds intended for infrastructure to go to “independent schools.” Independent, of course, is another way of saying private schools, and in Mississippi, that includes scores of schools originally chartered as segregation academies.
The bills were Senate Bill 2780 and 3064. The first bill, creating the grant program passed in the legislature almost unanimously. Senate Bill 3064, the funding, had some opposition in the upper chamber – 15 Democrats and 2 Republicans. In the House it was just 5 Democrats and 8 Republicans opposing the measure. Both were signed into law by Governor Jonathan Reeves on April 19, 2022.
Parents for Public Schools, Inc., https://parents4publicschools.org, filed suit on the grounds that Mississippi’s Constitution section 208, states “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.” PPS was joined in the suit by the American Civil Liberties Union, Mississippi Center for Justice and Democracy Forward. An interesting rub is that it would be actual grant money going to the private schools, whereas public schools would be required to take interest-free loans for a period of ten years.
As previously reported by The Mississippi Link, Hinds County Chancery Court Judge Crystal Wise Martin ruled on October 13, 2022, that the laws signed by Reeves were unconstitutional, halting the state’s ability to use the $10 million for “independent” schools. At the time, Democracy Forward attorney Will Bardwell told a press gathering, “This case is about more than $10 million in infrastructure grants. The constitution says that no public money can be appropriated to private schools, and if courts can make an exception for $10 million, then they can make an exception for anything. Judge Martin’s decision made clear that there are no exceptions in the constitution.”
As expected, Mississippi’s Attorney General Lynn Fitch, herself a segregation academy graduate of Marshall Academy in Holly Springs, per her Facebook post on May 13, 2021 – challenged the ruling of Judge Crystal Wise Martin. The case progressed to review by a three-judge panel of the Mississippi Supreme Court in early February. Justices King, Chamberlain, and Ishee heard the oral arguments and the panel ultimately elected to shift the matter to the en banc, or full court.
The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 on the case styled as 2022-SA-01129-SCT. The opinion rendered on May 2, 2024, by Justice Robert P. Chamberlin, found that Parents for Public Schools, Inc. did not have standing to bring the suit. Once that determination was made, the other issues, including the constitutionality of SB2780 & SB3064, became moot. The net result was that the highest court in the state effectively side-stepped the constitutionality issue. In the words of Chamberlain, “This Court finds that PPS lacks standing to bring this lawsuit. Therefore, this Court need not address the additional issues on appeal. Accordingly, we vacate the judgment of the Hinds County Chancery Court and render judgment dismissing PPS’s complaint.”
Justice Leslie D. King provided a lengthy dissent and was joined by Justice James W. Kitchens. Interestingly, only Chief Justice Michael Randolph has more tenure on the court than King and Kitchens. Presiding Justice King asks in his dissent, on the issue of standing, “This case begs the question: if parents of public-school children are not sufficiently adversely impacted to challenge this government action, who is?” On the issue of constitutionality, he offers, “By the plain language of the terms of the two bills, the Legislature appropriated funds toward the support of schools that are not free schools. By the plain language of section 208 of the Mississippi Constitution, the Legislature shall not appropriate “any funds” to schools that are not free schools. The unconstitutionality of the two bills is plain and obvious: Senate Bills 2780 and 3064 clearly violate section 208 of the Mississippi Constitution by appropriating funds to independent schools that are not free.”
The complete ruling can be viewed at https://casetext.com/case/midsouth-assn-of-indep-schs-v-parents-for-pub-schs.
If Mississippi is such a conservative state, with it’s white Republican super-majority, why are they routinely seeking to bend or sidestep the rules? It seems like each new legislative session brings more attempts to alter education systems and the funding that goes with it. Some writers have suggested that the push to cleave away public funds for private schools is a final vestige of massive resistance. Generally, aren’t conservatives in favor of smaller government, individual responsibility, the rule of law, and fiscal responsibility?
Perhaps, here in Mississippi, conservative principles are to be talked about, but whenever possible, get someone else to pay the bill.
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