Supreme Court hears oral arguments in lawsuit challenging public money to private schools by Bobby Harrison, Mississippi Today February 6, 2024 Attorneys for public school advocates said in oral arguments Tuesday before the Mississippi Supreme Court that the state constitutional provision that prevents public funds from going to private schools is “ironclad.
Lawmakers spent public money on private schools. Does it violate the Mississippi Constitution? Justin Matheny of the Attorney General’s Office argued Tuesday that it was OK for the Legislature to appropriate the money to the state’s private schools for infrastructure repairs because the funds were not state money but were part of the more than $1 billion in federal funds provided to the state for COVID-19 relief.
Will Mississippi Supreme Court stop public funds from going to private schools? The money the Legislature appropriated to the private schools in 2022 was part of a pot of federal discretionary funds that were sent to the states to be used in numerous areas, including on infrastructure improvements. But since the money was public, Bardwell and McDuff argued, in Mississippi it could not go to private schools.
Politicians want private school vouchers, but not a vote to amend constitution to allow themThis article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.Bobby Harrison, Mississippi Today’s senior capitol reporter, covers politics, government and the Mississippi State Legislature. He also writes a weekly news analysis which is co-published in newspapers statewide.