Is local tax support OK for charter schools? Court to decide

Attorneys challenging the constitutionality of channeling taxpayer dollars to Mississippi’s charter schools volleyed oral arguments in a Hinds County courtroom Tuesday morning with lawyers defending Mississippi's current way of funding of them.

The case, heard by Hinds County Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas, stems from a lawsuit filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2016 on behalf of a group of parents with students in Jackson Public Schools against the state, the Mississippi Department of Education and JPS. Last fall, Thomas allowed three pro-charter groups — the Mississippi Charter Schools Association, Midtown Partners and a group of parents with children in ReImagine Prep — to join the lawsuit on the defendants' behalf.

Thomas said his ruling will consider whether local funding should be able to follow students to charter schools.

Arguing that “school children have constitutional rights compromised by the diversion of their school’s funding,” SPLC attorney Will Bardwell said the Mississippi Charter Schools Act of 2013 adversely affects JPS parents.

JPS has diverted more than $1.8 million in funding to charter schools, according to the SPLC’s complaint.

Thomas, in turn, questioned why JPS, the state’s second-largest school district, hadn’t brought the lawsuit itself.

SEE ALSO: Parents on both sides talk charter lawsuit

Cydney Archie, a lawyer for JPS, said the district presumed the state law was constitutional. The district has asked to be dismissed from the case, but the SPLC has asked that it remain in order to ensure it follows Thomas’ directives.

At issue, Bardwell told the court, are the funding provisions of the law — not the existence or quality of charter schools themselves. He argued the governance structure of charter schools does not meet the state’s dual oversight requirement of reporting to both a state and local superintendent. Citing the Mississippi Supreme Court’s decision in Pascagoula v. Tucker as precedent, where the court ruled the Pascagoula School District could not be mandated to send oil money from the Chevron crude oil refinery to outside districts, he said local revenue funding for charter schools is unconstitutional.

Krissy Nobile, an attorney for the state, countered that local oversight is not needed to receive local funds. She gave the example of students who are approved to transfer districts and the funds that follow them.

“Under the Charter School Act, money simply follows the student,” she argued. “There is a local tax for a local benefit.”

Mike Hurst, who is representing the group of Midtown parents, said ruling in favor of the plaintiffs would “send a shockwave through the public school system of Mississippi” and shutter the state’s charter schools.

He argued such a decision would also pose a threat to Mississippi’s conservatorship model because, when the state does an emergency takeover of a school district, local control is abolished.

“It would literally overturn the way we’ve been educating our children for over a 100 years,” Hurst said.

When Hurst started speaking of the academic gains his clients’ children had made at Midtown, Thomas referenced the students left behind.

“The only problem is a selective few get to go,” Thomas said.

Hurst conceded that capped enrollment means charters must hold lotteries to determine student admission.

“I’ve never won a lottery, have you?” Thomas asked.

Bardwell told Thomas the onus is on the Legislature to correct the matter and prevent charters from closing.

All parties have asked for a quick ruling. Thomas has given a deadline of May 10 for each side to file any findings of fact. Rebuttals are due by June 21.

Although Thomas’ decision is still looming, he said that if he were a legislator, he likely would not have voted for the Charter School Act.

“In my opinion, everyone is entitled to an adequate education,” Thomas said. But he also expressed concerns about JPS, which has been placed on probation by MDE for accreditation violations related to safety and academics.

“Jackson Public Schools have not lived up to their promise to students … (that) must be resolved in the future.”

Contact Bracey Harris  at 601-961-7248 or bharris2@gannett.com . Follow her on Twitter