Should charter schools get property tax money? Mississippi Supreme Court hears arguments

The state Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday morning about whether it’s constitutional to require local communities to help fund charter schools with property taxes.

That question is at the center of the three-year-old case brought by a group of Jackson school parents with children enrolled in the city’s traditional public schools.

Four charters are located in Jackson.

Local property taxes are a financial lifeline for the schools.

In 2018, three charter schools reported to the Mississippi Department of Education that local taxes accounted for more than a third of the schools' revenue.

Lawyers with the Southern Poverty Law Center representing the parents argued in court filings that picking up the tab has come at the expense of the second-largest school district in the state.

Since 2015, JPS has allocated more than $4.5 million in local taxes to charter schools operating within the district's boundaries. With two new charter schools set to open in the coming years that figure is set to grow.

At play in Tuesday's hearing was whether Section 206 of the state Constitution shields school districts from having to share their property taxes with other school systems.

A previous ruling in 2012  from the high court has been thought favorable to the SPLC's interpretation. In that appeal, the Supreme Court ruled the Gautier school district couldn't be forced to divert its property tax revenues to other school districts.  

However, Chancery Court DeWayne Thomas wrote last year that facts of the the charter school case differs from the precedent. 

A sticking point for Thomas was the location of the charter schools.

Charter schools, though independent from JPS oversight, operate within the district's attendance zones. In his ruling, Thomas said that means children living in the district are the ones benefiting from the local property taxes.  

Much of Tuesday's hearing hinged on the interpretation of what charters can be considered a part of the Jackson Public School District.

Christine Bischoff, an attorney appealing to overturn the lower court's ruling, told justices that charters operate as their own school districts. JPS, she explained, has no role for example, in hiring or firing charter employees.

"The question is about the word 'its,'" Bischoff said in her rebuttal. "The parents' position is that 'its' is not ambiguous that 'its' is clear. "Its" refers to the levying school districts' schools."

Prior to Bischoff's close, Justice Kenny Griffis had questioned whether districts should be thought of a legal entities as opposed to fiduciaries for the children attending them.

The state countered that despite the different governing structure—instead of a local school board, charters are governed by the state Authorizer Board—charter schools should be considered a part of JPS. 

Krissy Nobile, an attorney for the state, urged justices to consider that local property tax revenue collected by JPS and shared with charter schools still stays within the geographic boundaries of the JPS district.

"Public charter schools are in the taxed districts and provide a free public education to the taxed districts students," she said.

Justice Leslie King challenged Nobile's interpretation that money should follow the child as long as they remain within the geographic boundaries of the school district collecting taxes.  

King asked Nobile if local property tax money would follow a student living in Jackson attending Jackson Academy or New Hope Academy, both private schools.

Nobile said the scenario differs from her argument centering on public funds for public schools.

Parents and attorneys at the center of the lawsuit have detailed a lack of enrichment programs and outdated textbooks in the city's public schools. 

In a brief, attorneys for the state argued the lawsuit's claims "rest on speculative 'fears' and 'worries.''

The state has further argued local tax dollars can go to schools exempt from local supervision.

Less than 1 percent of the state's students are enrolled in charters, but the nontraditional schools have sparked bitter arguments among education advocates.

In a state where schools are routinely underfunded, charter opponents argue the independent schools are a cash drain.

Supporters have countered that the schools are one of the only viable options for children enrolled in under-resourced schools.

Charles Araujo and his wife Evelyn are plaintiffs in the case.

Araujo told reporters after Tuesday's hearing that Jackson is a close-knit community, and he knows parents who enroll their children in public schools.

The court case, he said, is about challenging a legislative funding directive he believes violates the state Constitution.

"We understand how important education is to everyone," Araujo said. "We understand how important having good bathrooms are. We understand so many of those things. In one way, it's unfortunate that we actually have to sue the state to say, 'we can do better than this.'"

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